Tunnel of Destined Love
by SeanEddy
Summary: When Hokage Tsunade reopens the Konoha Festival and Jiraiya's forbidden Tunnel of Destined Love ride that has the power to tell you at the end of the ride who you are destined to love and be with, Will Naruto end up destined for Sakura or Hinata?
1. Jiraiya's Tunnel of Destiny

**---Tunnel of Destiny----**

**Chapter 1 - Jiraiya's Forbidden Tunnel of Destiny**

"Whew! That mission was tiring" exclaimed Naruto as he, Sakura, Kakashi and Sai walked into Tsunade's office. Tsunade looked up from her paperwork and saw the team Kakashi back from their mission.

"So, How did it go?" asked Tsunade with her arms crossed folded infront of her. "Everything went smoothly" Kakashi said replying to her. "Yeah, the package was deliveredwith little trouble." said Naruto giving Tsunade a thumbs up.

"Little trouble?" asked Tsunade. "What kind of trouble?"

"We ran into some ninjas along the way but we took care of em" said Naruto with his thumbs up still pointed at Tsunade. Sai looked up from his book, "Yes, they were of no threat though. Our mission was a complete success" Sai said to her assuringly then returning his eyesight back to his book about emotions and how to show them.

"If I may ask, Tsunade..." Sakura spoke up, "..What was the package anyway?" Tsunade gave each of Team Kakashi a quick glance of her eyes and answered Sakura's question.

"Well, what the contents of the package was, i cannot tell you. But I _can _tell you what it is for" she said. Team Kakashi awaited her explaination. "Ever since the incident with Sasuke Uchiha, I couldnt help but notice many young shinobi in a sort of depression." She said now standing up and facing the opposing window as she continued. "After some discussion with the elders, I have come to the conclusion...to open up the Konoha Park."

"The Konoha Park?" asked Naruto. "Whats that?"

Kakashi answered him, "Its an amusment park that has been closed ever since I was a little child. I use to love going there until it was closed down."

"Why was it closed down?" asked Sai once again lifting up his head from his book.

Tsunade continued to look out her window as she answered Sai, "Because of that fool, Jiraiya"

Naruto's eyes lit up hearing of his sensei, "eh, Ero-Senin? what did he do?"

Tsunade sat down back into her chair and glanced at Naruto once more. "Well, back then, Konoha had put him, Orochimaru, and myself in charge of making one new additional ride each for the park. Actually, it was pretty fun to do."

"What ride did you make?" asked Kakashi

Tsunade smiled, "I made the ride called 'Bumper Cars...TO THE XTREME!" she said jumping up from her desk and slamming her fist on her desk.

Kakashi looked on at her, "You made that ride? Getting on that ride was like suicide. If you got bumped, you'd literally go into a coma for a week. But i guess thats what you get when you make the bumper cars with Air Force Jet Engines" he said placing his hand on his chin.

Sakura, Sai and Naruto all laughed at the thought of Kakashi on the bumper cars. "So, what did Orochimaru and Jiraiya make for their rides?" asked Sakura.

"Naturally, Orochimaru made a haunted house that was about as scary as Sakura here" said Tsunade smiling at Sakura. Sai and Naruto both turned to each other.

"Oh, so you mean it was scary as hell huh" said Sai with a straight face to Tsunade as Naruto tried hard to hold back a laugh and Sakura glaring at them both with a death stare.

"Ahem" Tsunade fake cleared her throat to regain attention, Team Kakashi looked back at her. "Like I was saying, Orochimaru made a haunted house."

"And Jiraiya?" Asked Naruto

"Jiraiya made a Tunnel of Love ride...but it was different then any other tunnel of love. He made a jutsu especially for it." She went on to explain. "This is how it works. You and your date to the festival are separated as there are two different lines for both, one for the boys and one for the girls. Once the lines shortens and are able to get in a boat, the area will go pitch black and you will not know who is in the boat with you until the end of the ride. When you reach the end, your boat will automatically coast into a lit up spot from the full moon shining in a spot on the water. At that time, you will be able to see who you were in the boat with...and who you were destined to be with your entire life"

"WHAT!" Shouted Naruto and Sakura as Kakashi and Sai stood unshooken. "What was that last part again?" asked Naruto

"That specific jutsu he created was forbidden because it has the power to tell you what is your future...or for a better use of words..._Who_ is your future. The person you will see next to you in the boat is who you were destined to be with for the rest of your life. That person...is the one you will be destined to love."

Naruto thought on in his mind as he thought what if he ended up with Sakura on the boat. His face began to look as devilish as his thoughts.

"Well, the Konoha Park...and Jiraiya's forbidden Tunnel of Love will be open in 2 days at exactly 10:00pm during the full moon. This is a date taking place too, you can only get into the park if you have a date" Said Tsunade to them...Well besides that, I will make an announcement to all the others about this coming attraction. You guys are dismissed" She said going back to writing on paper on her desk. With that, Team Kakashi left the office. Naruto grinning from ear to ear not noticing that Hinata, who was standing behind the dooroverheard the conversation and hoped of asking Naruto to the festival. Sai remaining calm reading his book, and Sakura was leftthinking about Jiraiya's forbidden tunnel of love and who she may end up destined to love..

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With the Konoha Festival coming soon and Jiraiya's forbidden tunnel of destined love reopenning, What will Naruto do? Who will he ask to the festival as his date?Will it be Sakura or will it be Hinata? Find out on the next chapter! _**Please Review. Thanks**_. 


	2. Sakura or Hinata

Tunnel of Destiny

**Chapter 2 - Sakura or Hinata**

The next day, the news about the Konoha Festival spread fast. Everyone knew about it ever since Tsunade made that grand announcement

Naruto made his way out of his apartment and onto the grounds of Konoha. He looked up into the sky and with his hands behind his head when he heard a voice.

"N-Naruto-kun..." said the unsteady voice. Naruto turned and noticed Hinata standing behind him.

"Hinata? Hey hows everything going?" he asked her as normal

She turned her head slightly and smiled, "N-nothing...well,...I wanted to-to ask you s-something..." she said blushing

Naruto faced her and looked at her normally, totally oblivious to her blushing and nervousness. "Okay...what is it?" he asked

"W-well...i heard about the Konoha festival...a-and that I-I was wondering if you w-were going" she struggled with her words and hiding her blush

Naruto looked at her still and placed his hands into a fold infront of his chest. "Believe it. Im going alright. Its going to be fun...All i have to worry about is getting a date now" he said looking upward to the sky.

Hinata saw her chance to ask him, "W-well...i woul-d...go..w-with..-" before she could finish, another voice called out.

"Hey Naruto" called another voice. Kiba came walking up to them, riding on the giant sized Akamaru.

"Hey Kiba!" shouted Naruto turning away from Hinata. "How are you?" he said going over to him and petting Akamaru.

"Im doing good," Kiba replied as he turned to Hinata. "Hey Hinata, oh yeah, Kurenai-Sensei wants to see you. She sent me to get you" he said looking at the blushing Hyuuga girl.

"Okay..." she said depressingly as she walked off in the other direction with her head down slightly, thinking of forgetting about asking Naruto.

Kiba jumped off of Akamaru and smiled at Naruto. "So, Naruto. You hear about the big Konoha Festival?"

"Yeah, its about time we get to have some fun for a change" he said with his usual looking expression.

"So..." Kiba muttered

"So...what?" Naruto answered Kiba's mutter

"So, who are you going to ask to the festival?" Kiba asked Naruto, giving him a nudge on the shoulder. "I bet its Sakura, isnt it?"

"Yeah, I was actually thinking about asking Sakura-chan...but now I'm not so sure." he said looking downward.

Kiba looked at Naruto's facial expression change to a sadened look."Why...were you thinking about asking Hinata?" asked Kiba

Naruto looked up to Kiba's eyes not knowing that Sakura was hiding behind a nearby tree listening to the conversation. Kiba suddenly began to sniff the air and realized that Sakura was there in hiding but didnt say anything to Naruto about her.

Naruto thought for a moment then answered Kiba. "I dont know. Hinata is cool...and I think i may even like her like her" he said to Kiba with a slight smile but then thought about Sakura. "But...Sakura-Chan..."

From behind the tree, Sakura's heart skipped a beat after hearing Naruto's feelings for Hinata. She had always liked Naruto but kept it a secret from him. She was actually planning on asking Naruto to the festival.

Naruto and Kiba's conversation became silent as Sakura came from behind the tree and walked over to them.

"Hey Kiba...Naruto" Said Sakura looking downward and fiddling her fingers a bit.

"Hey...Sakura-Chan" said Naruto looking at her looking downward. "Whats wrong"

Kiba keep quiet looking at the two.

"Well, Naruto. Ive been thinking and well...I wanted to ask you if you would like to go to the festival with me?" Sakura said finally looking up into Naruto's eyes.

Speechless, Naruto stared into the pink haired girl's eyes not knowing what to say. Hinata came walking back from seeing Kurenai just in time to hear Sakura's question to Naruto and Naruto's response to her.

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Ha! I left it off with a cliffhanger. Did Naruto say yes? Did he say No? Find out on the next chapter. **PLEASE REVIEW. THANKS. NEXT CHAPTER COMING SOON.**


	3. Blushes and Tears

Tunnel of Destiny

**Chapter 3 - Blushes and Tears**

The silence was intense. Kiba stood there, between a speechless Naruto and Sakura awaiting Naruto's answer.

"Well..." pushed Sakura as she waited for his answer.

Naruto looked on at her, still looking into her eyes until he sensed someone walking up to them from behind. Hinata had made her way back to them from seeing Kurenai who told her that her cousin, Neji, left a message for her to see him as soon as possible. She looked at Naruto from her distance and stopped walking to avoid getting closer. Naruto's eyes meet with Hinata's and then went back to Sakura's.

"I...uh.." Naruto stammered but then realized his answer with a deep breathe. "Im..sorry, Sakura-chan but, Hinata already asked me" Said Naruto looking downward then into Sakura's eyes.

"Oh, okay. Well i guess I'll see you at the festival then." Sakura said as she turned her body in motion of walking away. She gave a quick grin and smile to Naruto as she turned her back and began to walk away secretly beginning to build up tears in her eyes from Naruto's answer.

"N-Naruto-kun" Said Hinata walking up to Naruto all at the same time blushing

Naruto turned to Hinata and smiled. "I know you were going to ask me before Kiba showed so I will accept. I will be your date to the festival" said naruto with a grin.

Hinata couldnt believe what she was hearing. It was the happiest day of her life. Naruto was _her_ date. She began to blush as she looked off to the side. Kiba smiled at the two and looked back to notice Sakura was walking away slowly. She seemed sad.

"Hmm..." Kiba muttured as he jumped once again upon Akamaru and rode to catch up with her leaving Naruto and Hinata alone.

"Sakura" came a voice directed at Sakura. Sakura turned around to see Kiba riding up next to her.

"Hello Kiba" Sakura greeted him with a smile and moistened cheeks from her wiping away her tears.

Kiba examined her facial expression carefully,. "Are you okay?" he asked her

"Im fine, why do you ask?"

"Because, I know you like Naruto..." Kiba said

Sakura remained quiet.

"You love him, dont you?" Kiba asked with widened eyes

"...I...don't know.." studdered Sakura as her tears began to weld up again

"Well, maybe its not all hopeless for you two to be together." said Kiba as he formulated a plan

"What do you mean?" asked a now teary eyed Sakura

"Jiraiya's Tunnel of Destiny. If you and Naruto end up in the boat together, you will know that you were destined to be with him." Said Kiba slamming his fist into his palm from his idea. Sakura's eyes widened.

"Thats a great idea!...only one problem. I dont have a date." Sakura said sadly.

"Well, how about you ask Shino?"

"No, I cant stand bugs"

"umm...Shikamaru?"

"No, I believe he has a date anyways. I think I over heard him saying he was going with Temari" explained Sakura. She looked down at the ground thinking of who she could go with when it hit her. "Sai" she said looking up. "Sai is my only chance of getting in"

"Nice plan but he seems quite...reserved." said Kiba

"That doesnt matter. As long as I can get to Jiraiya's Tunnel of destiny when Naruto does." Sakura said happily.

"But what if you dont end up with Naruto at the end of the ride?" Asked Kiba with a questioned look upon his face.

"...I have to...i just have to...I love him...' she said under her breathe.

Kiba smiled greatly, "Well, I hope everything turns out alright for you." he said giving her a quick wave of his hand and riding off on Akamaru, "Cya"

Sakura smiled as she began to think of her ending up with Naruto at the end of the ride but quickly faded as she looked behind her and saw Naruto with Hinata in the distance smiling. She had no time to lose if she wanted to pull off her plan. With that, Sakura ran forward in search of Sai.

Back to Naruto and Hinata, who was now blushing extremely were talking about the festival. Naruto was grinning as Hinata was smiling and blushing.

"Well Hinata, are you excited! I cant wait for the festival. Its going to be great!" he said with a big smile

"Y-yeah." she said shyly then noticed that she had to go meet with Neji for something. "W-well i have to go n-now."

Naruto smiled at her. "Okay"

Hinata blushed slightly as she couldnt bring herself to leave him. "O-ok-kay, bye N-Naruto-kun" she said quickly moving her feet to turn around but before she could walk away she felt a hand grasp hers. Her eyes widened as she turned to see Naruto holding her hand and smiling at her, looking deep into her eyes. Hinata's blush was erupting like a volcano and was only intensified when Naruto drew her close to him with a quick pull of her arm. She flung into his arms leaving little to no space between them. Naruto embraced Hinata in a hug as his arms tightened around her. She couldnt believe what was happening.

"This night will be the best night of my life. I just know it" Naruto whispered to Hinata. "Thank you for being my date, Hinata"

Naruto was still hugging her, he nuzzled his head against hers as their hair ruffled together. Naruto could feel Hinata's nervous tremble and soothed her with his hands massaging he back slightly.

Finally, Naruto let go of the hug and Hinata backed away slightly as she did her best to hide her extreme blushing. Naruto could only look on at the blushing Hinata with a smile and chuckle as she smiled back while looking toward the ground. She then turned her head upward to look at him one last time for that moment with a sweet smile, then began to walk over to see Neji, leaving Naruto with a smile upon his face.

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**I think that chapter was abit emotional for Sakura's side of the story but i think it turned out okay. Next chapter coming soon. Please Review so I can get some feedback on how the story is so far. I hope you are liking it. Thanks**


	4. Helping Hyuuga

Tunnel of Destiny

**Chapter 4 - Helping Hyuuga **

"I cant believe it! Im actually going to the festival with Naruto-kun. This is the best day of my life!" Thought Hinata as she entered within the living space of the Hyuuga family. Her face remained with a blush as she continued to think about her and Naruto as a couple, her hands fiddling with joy. After much walking and thinking, she found herself standing on the grounds infront of Neji and her father doing their daily workout spar. Both Neji and Hiashi were exhausted while they stood their fighting position.

Hinata stood there watching them, not wanted to disturbed them but did so when her eyes met with her father's. Hinata looked down as Hiashi stood up straight from his pose.

"Lets rest, Neji" Hiashi said to Neji also standing up and wiping his forehead of sweat.

"Yes" Neji replied formally then turned his head and noticed Hinata there waiting for him. Neji walked over to her and greeted her with a slight bow to show respect. Hinata was dumbfounded as he had not done this before.

"Hello, Hinata" said Neji in his normal tone.

"Uh, Hello, Neji" Hinata replied with a slight bow of her own then did her best to look him straight into his eyes, something she never was fully successful at doing. "I got your message...you w-wanted to see me?" she said to him.

Neji looked at her and gave a slight head nodd. "Yes, I need your help with something. Your the only one I can depend on in this situation." Neji said, showing a tiny bit of change in his expression.

"My help?...what do you need me for?" asked Hinata as she felt her struggle to look at him shrink. Neji stood silent for a moment, looking downward at the ground then turning and walk slowly to signify Hinata to walk with him...she followed suit.

"Hinata...Im sure you've heard of the Konoha Festival's grand opening tommorow...have you?"

"Y-Yes, I have. Are you going, Neji?" asked Hinata lowly

"...I don't know...I want to ask-" Neji stopped himself from finishing his statement.

Hinata gave a slight smile as she began to see the situation Neji was in, "...You want to ask...Tenten?" Hinata asked with a smile.

Neji could only look at Hinata with shock as she had figured it out fast. He looked downward then toward her "How did you know?" he asked

Hinata's smile formed bigger, "I could see it in your face." she said walking side by side with him.

"Then you see why I need your help. I...cannot think of a way to bring myself to ask her.." he said looking at Hinata for her guidance.

"I see... but why me? Why not Lee?...he is of your same team..." Hinata said to him.

"No... Lee is good but I need a woman's point of view on this... So can you help me?" Neji asked stopping his stroll and looked into his cousin's eyes.

Hinata looked back at him and smiled, "Yes I will help you."

Neji bowed his head slightly to his cousin, "Thank you, Hinata." said Neji as he began to walk with her again. "So, Hinata...will you be going to the festival?" asked Neji

Hinata's eyes widened and her head lowered as she began to blush from reoccuring thoughts of Naruto and herself. "Yes, I'm going with-"

"Naruto." said Neji assuming and finishing Hinata's sentence for her.

Hinata was shocked, "Y-Yes...Naruto-kun asked me today. I'm excited" she said hiding her blush by looking at the ground.

"Hmm..Good for you." Neji said smirking slightly. "So how do you plan on helping me?"

Hinata thought for a moment. "...I got it! Meet me at the forest grounds next to the Yamanaka shop in half an hour" Hinata said running off smiling at her cousin and waving as she ran right out of the Hyuuga house, leaving a confused Neji standing bewildered.

Meanwhile, Sakura made her way into the Konoha library looking around the bookcases for Sai. "Where is he?...I thought he'd be here" she said continuing to look around then spotted him seated in a quiet corner reading a book...most likely about emotions or friendships. "There he is." she said cracking a smile. She walked up to him and sat on the opposing chair facing him. Sai's glare looked up from his book and at Sakura's smiling face.

"Hello Sakura." Sai said his usual way.

"Hey Sai, I've been looking everywhere for you. I sort of figured I'd find you here." she said still smiling.

"Oh. Why were you looking for me?" he asked burrying his face back into his book.

"I wanted to ask you if you were thinking on going to the festival tommorow.." she asked with a slowly fading smile.

"I have not thought about it since Miss Tsunade mentioned it." he replied

"Oh. Well, hey. how about we go. We can go together. I heard itll be alot of fun" she said to him, trying to convince him on going.

"Sure, I guess we can" he said alittle unsure.

"Great! I'll see ya then." she said grinning at her teammate and friend.

Sai gave her a smile and went back to reading his book as Sakura began to walk out waving to Sai happily.

Back at his house, Naruto walked into his kitchen area and prepared his instant ramen in a cup. "Ill have to go get some more ramen, this one is my last cup" he exclaimed as he opened his ramen and began eating. He smiled as he savored every bite. "Yum..."

"Naruto, What have I told you about eating ONLY ramen? its bad for growing shinobi." came a voice that interupted Naruto's feast. Naruto turned his eyes from his ramen to his window pane and saw none other than Kakashi sitting and holding out a basket of fruit to Naruto. "Here, Have some fruit instead. Its better for you." said Kakashi.

Naruto turned away from the offering of fruit. "I rather have ramen" he said seemingly annoyed by Kakashi.

Kakashi jumped down from the window pane and sat down at Naruto's table, setting the basket of fruit down also on the table. "So, are you going to the festival?" asked Kakashi.

"Believe it! Im going with Hinata" he said to Kakashi going back to eating his instant ramen.

"So she finally built up the curage huh? Good for her...its about time" he said smiling. "Do you know who all the others are goin with yet?"

Naruto thought, "Hmm...So far all i know is that Shikamaru is going with Temari from sand village."

Kakashi nodded, "That was expected. They seem like a good couple." He said with his hand up to his chin as Naruto rose from his seat and walked toward his door.

"Well, Kakashi-sensei, I am going to the clothes shop to buy some new clothes to wear to the festival tommorow. See ya" Naruto said walking out his door. Kakashi waved at Naruto leaving then took an apple from the basket and left out the window.

Meanwhile, Neji was walking to the exact location that Hinata told him to be. He stood in the woods underneath a tree awaiting his cousin when suddenly, he saw Tenten walking up to him waving from the distance. Neji had no clue what was going on but went with it anyway. "Hello Tenten" said Neji.

"Hey Neji" said Tenten. "Hinata told me that you'd be here." she said walking close to him.

Neji stood silent as he looked at Tenten then finally spoke up. "Yeah, have you seen her?" he asked her

"She told me that you wanted to ask me to the festival. Is that true, Neji" Tenten said with a slight, barely noticable blush on her cheeks. She loved flirting with him at times, and this was one of those times.

Neji was shocked that Hinata basically sabotaged him with such a straightforward plan. He looked downward for a moment then looked up at Tenten, "Yeah,...would you like to go?" he asked slowly.

Tenten let out a playful giggle as she grabbed Neji's right hand with both of hers and looked into his eyes all at the same time flirting alittle. "Of course I'll go with you. We do everything together." she smiled then chuckled abit.

Neji smiled at Tenten when suddenly Tenten gasped seeing a formation of roses wrapped in a bow as a present next to Neji's feet. Tenten reached down and picked them up in joy. "Aww...Neji. You bought me roses, and it has a tag." she said as she smelled the roses then read what it said on the tag.

--Tag:---------------------------------------------------------------------------

**From Neji, ****To Tenten**

**"We train together, We fight together, We get stronger together. **

**I only pray that we will share our destinies together as well."**

**----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------**

TenTen's eyes watered slightly as she finished reading the note. She looked up at Neji, who was secretly just as surprised as she was to see the note and roses.

_"Where did those come from? I didnt get any roses for her"_ Neji thought as he was too surprised to say anything at the moment. Suddenly, before he knew it, Neji was tackled to the grass from taking on a big loving hug from Tenten whose eyes where almost fully waterlogged. The hug lasted for only approximately 10 seconds but felt like an eternity to Neji and Tenten.

"I cant wait for tommorow." Tenten said to Neji still in the hug. "I gotta go shopping for some new clothes." said Tenten as she finally got off of Neji and stood up, also helping Neji up. "See ya tommorow" Tenten said excitedly as she quickly planted a kiss to Neji's cheek and ran off with her roses.

Neji stood dumbfounded and happy at the same time. "What just happened?" he asked himself then heard some ruffling in the trees above him and it hit him... He was not alone.

"You can come out...Hinata" Neji shouted into the tree above as Hinata and Rock Lee jumped down from the tree.

"You too, Lee?" Neji asked looking at Lee land on the ground.

"Yes, Hinata came to me for assistance." he said in his usual proper manner.

Hinata stood alittle nervous for setting Neji up like that, "Im sorry...I-I just thought it'll be easier...if.."

"Thank you, Hinata" Neji interrupted. He then looked over at Rock Lee. "Thank you, Lee" he thanked him with a nodd also.

"N-No problem" said Hinata happily to see her cousin finally romantically happy while Rock Lee gave Neji a nice smile and a solute.

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This Chapter was for all those Neji/Tenten fans out there. I had fun also letting Hinata play match-maker for her cousin with Lee's help. Thank you all for reviewing Chapters thus far. I hope you continue to submit them and since you guys like it so much, I will start to put up previews for the next chapter. Thanks again.

**Next Chapter Preview: **While Naruto, Shikamaru, Tenten, Sakura, Ino, Temari, and Kiba shop for new clothes for the big day, some unexpected things happen. Kankuro even introduces his TWO dates to the festival and Gaara even makes in appearance.


	5. Gathering and Preparations

Tunnel of Destined Love 

**CHAPTER 5 - Gathering and Preparations**

Naruto walked down the path of the ever populated Konoha village on his way to the Konoha Department store. "Hmm...I wonder what I should get when I get there" Naruto thought to himself as he walked with both hands behind his head. "I guess I'll find out when I get there" he said to himself outloud. Suddenly, a voice was heard directed toward Naruto.

"Hey Naruto. Whatcha up to?" Said Kiba as he and Shikamaru came walking up from behind Naruto.

Naruto turned to face them, "Hey guys. Im just heading over to the Konoha Department Store to buy some different clothes for tommorow; gotta look good for tommorow ya know?" Naruto continued as he turned toward Shikamaru. "Hey Shikamaru, I heard you were going too. Are you going clothes-shopping too" he asked him with a grin.

Shikamaru gave his usual lazy look, "It can't be helped. It was all Temari's idea. She told me that I should have a different 'look' for tommorow. Im betting she wants to go on that Tunnel thing" he said with his hands in his pockets

"Well, Im not going with a date." Said Kiba with a smile. "Im going with my sister to get passed the entrance gates then after that Im going to hang with you guys. She said she will probably leave after I get in" Kiba said to them then started to laugh.

"Thats what I was going to do before Temari asked me." Shikamaru said looking at Kiba.

"Then why dont you just tell her that you dont want to go with her?" Naruto asked the lazy ninja.

"Its too troublesome. Besides, I dont mind it." Shikamaru answered with a smirk. "Plus, its a great opportunity to get some rest and relaxation with a person thats not too bothersome."

"Eh, thats good. Well, we should really be going" said Naruto as he started to walk with them.

"Yeah, Lets go" exclaimed Kiba as they walked on to the store.

The day continued on easily and steadily as Naruto, Shikamaru and Kiba finally made it to the Konoha Department Store. They entered threw the main doors and began to look around; the air filled with the smell of new clothing from the clothes section, Fresh food from the food court section, and sounds emiting from the electronics department.

"So...Where to first, fellas?" asked Kiba smiling still.

"The clothes section. I need some new dreads then we can go hang out at the other places." Naruto said with a grin as he turned toward the clothing section. Kiba nodded and followed Naruto as did Shikamaru with his hands still in his pockets.

"Hey Naruto, this shirt looks pretty cool" said Kiba as he picked up the shirt by the hanger and showed it to Naruto.

Naruto examined the shirt. It was a black, short sleeve shirt with a swirl that glowed orange in the dark. "Hmm...Not bad. I'll buy it." Naruto said taking the shirt and grinning. "Now I need some shorts"

"Hey look" Said Shikamaru as he pointed to a corner in the clothes department. "Theres Sakura and Ino."

Naruto turned his attention from his shirt to them and looked on at them with a slowly forming smiling. "Hey! Sakura-chan!" Naruto yelled out to her and waved.

Sakura turned her head from talking to Ino toward the yelling Naruto. Sakura smiled and threw up her hands to wave back to him, "Hey Naruto" she said with a smile.

Naruto, with his goofy grin on his face, began to walk over to them; Kiba and Shikamaru followed.

"Oh, Hey Ino" he said turning his head to notice that Sakura was not alone. "You guys shoppin too?"

"Yep. I volunteered to help Sakura here with some of her clothes shopping since she has absolutely NO sense of style. I mean, the festival is a big deal and I just can't allow her to go looking like any old mangy billboard head" said Ino with an evil smirk on her face not knowing that Sakura was giving her a death stare.

"...So..wait..Your going too, Sakura-chan?" he asked as he just realized that that is the reason she was shopping for clothes. "Who is your date" he asked her with his grin faded.

Sakura looked at Naruto for a moment then answered him, "Oh...I asked Sai." she said with a semi formed smile.

Naruto gave a smile at Sakura. "Im sure you two will have loads of fun" he said not sounding completely sincere.

Shikamaru turned toward Ino. "So, Ino. Are you going as well?"

"I havent really thought about it. I would but i dont have a date" Said Ino looking up with her hand on her chin thinking on the matter.

Suddenly, an idea popped into Kiba's mind, making his eyes widen quickly and crossing a smirk on his face. "Hey I got it! Instead of using my sister to get in, I'll be your date Ino. That way, we can both get in and save sis the trouble." Kiba said smiling.

Ino gave a nod and smiled back at the dog shinobi. "Thats a great Idea. Good thinking Kiba" Ino said with her triumphant grin.

Shikamaru gave a smirk as he saw yet another person coming to join their conversation...none other than his date, Temari.

"Hey guys. Whats going on?" she asked normally.

Shikamaru went on to answer his date's question, "Nothing much. Naruto and Sakura just talking while Ino and Kiba plan a scheme to get into the festival." said Shikamaru

"We are not scheming!" said Ino with her goofy annoyed face.

"Yeah" agreed Kiba

"So Wait... " Temari went on to asked from her curiousity as she looked at Kiba then Ino. "You two are a couple then?"

"No!" yelled Ino and Kiba at the same time. "We are just using each other to get into the festival"

"Oh, Well anyway I figured I'd come and buy something myself." said Temari looking at a top that she thought was cute then looked back at them. "Oh here comes another one of your friends" she said with a smile spotting Tenten walk over to them holding a bag.

"Hey" Tenten said with a smile. "You guys shopping too?"

"Yeah. It seems that everyone wants to have new clothes for the big day tommorow" replied Sakura. "So who are you going with, Tenten?"

"Oh Im going with Neji. He asked me." she said with a grin of enjoyment.

The young chuunins and Naruto all continued to talk and look at clothes as yet another familiar voice called out to them. "Hey! There you are Temari" said the voice

Temari turned her head to notice her brothers walking toward them along with two girls walking next to Kankuro.

"Hey Gaara, Kankuro. Whats up?" Naruto asked.

"Aw Nothing. Just relaxing as long as we can here in Konoha." Kankuro replied while his arms remained over both the girls shoulders. Gaara remained quiet with his arms folded as usual.

"So Gaara, how does it feel to be a kage?" asked Ino.

"...Its alright" he said in his usual tone.

Naruto's eyes remained on Kankuro as the image of him having his arms around two beautiful girls just didnt register in his mind.

"So Kankuro, are you going to introduce your friends to us?" asked Kiba looking at the two girls.

"Oh these girls." he said looking at the two girls with a smile as they looked back at him with a loving and admiring smile "They are my dates to that Konoha festival tommorow"

"Both of them?" asked Ino.

"Yep. I was asked so many times I just had to pick two instead of one" Kankuro said with a confident grin. Shikamaru smiled as he looked carefully at Kankuro's hands and noticed something about Kankuro's dates and glanced over at Kiba who had also figured out what was going on with the two girls. Shikamaru and Kiba both walked over to Naruto holding in a laugh at the scheme that Kankuro seemed to be pulling.

"Hmph. And I thought Ino and Kiba's scheme was troublesome" said Shikamaru.

Naruto looked on at both of them with a puzzled looked. "Scheme? What scheme?" asked Naruto.

"You mean to tell me you havent found it out yet?" asked Kiba. "I found out when i picked up the scent of the two girls. I knew something didnt smell right about them"

Naruto stood looking at them still with a puzzled look. Shikamaru gave a sigh as he went on to explain it to Naruto.

"This is bothersome" Shikamaru gave out a sigh of lazyness. "But okay. Kiba, Im going to need your assistance"

Kiba gave a nodd as he understood what Shikamaru's plan was instantly.

The three guys walked back over to the rest who were still talking and laughing in conversation. Shikamaru walked behind Kankuro and readied his Kagemane technique.

"So...ladies. You chose a good guy to be your date to the festival." said Kiba to Kankuro's dates as he continued. "What do you like most about Kankuro"

Kankuro grinned as one of the girls spoke to answer Kiba. "Well, Kankuro is like, so totally cool and hot and..." suddenly, the girl stopped talking and moving.

"and?..." Naruto asked as he looked on at the girl suddenly not moving now.

"Shikamaru is the best" said the girl. "Yeah, he is so cool" said the other one

"Eh?" Naruto was confused as to what was happening then his eyes coasted over to see Shikamaru's technique had connected to Kankuro's shadow.

"hmph...just as I thought." said Shikamaru. "Your dates are puppets. I used my Kagemane technique to gain control of your finger movements so when Kiba asked them a question, I could make them answer anyway I wanted" he said as he finally released the jutsu.

Kankuro's eyes shot wide then closed them in slight shame.

"It took you that long to figure that out. He built them all by himself just the other night" said Gaara still in the same posture as before.

"So...his dates are just puppets?" said Naruto with a wierded grin.

"Yeah...I tried" Kankuro said with a laugh. "I had you guys fooled for awhile"

Everyone gave a quick laugh to Kankuro's attempts to fool them then went back to their normal conversations.

"Well guys, are we going to stand around all day? or are we going to go hang out at the food court?" suggested Ino to the rest.

"Yeah, now that sounds like a plan!" exlaimed Naruto as he didnt really get to savor his instant ramen back at his house before.

"Cool with me! lets go." agreed Kiba.

The girls all nodded with a sweet smile as they all began to walk to the food court. Naruto once again placed his hands behind his head and walked with a smile. As the crew walked, Naruto peeked over at Sakura whom was walking next to Ino and Tenten. He thought for a moment about how things use to be; how the original Team Kakashi was back when they were all unexperienced genin. He found himself cracking out with laughter thinking on his immature attempts of hitting on Sakura and how he always liked her. Suddenly, Naruto's mind coasted to Hinata and his lips moved upward. Hinata had always admired Naruto from afar and Naruto never really noticed it until now. Even hidden to himself, he had always liked Hinata too and always felt that he needed to protect her whenever they went on missions. His face lit up thinking about Hinata and the feeling of love filled the pit of his stomach. Naruto was romantically happy but yet again another problem arised within Naruto that made his stomach turn. He realized by hanging out with Sakura that he still had feelings about her, although they have been slightly subsided due to the years apart he spent away with Jiraiya training his skills.

The gang finally made it to the food court where they walked to a long table with enough chairs for everyone of them. Everyone was having a good time being with one another and spending some time away from their lives as shinobi. Naruto looked on as everyone began to sit down.

Temari sat down in the chair to the right of Shikamaru. Gaara naturally sat next to Kankuro who was seated on the other side of Shikamaru. Tenten, Sakura and Ino sat next to each other and Kiba sat at the top of the table. Naruto then pulled out the seat opposite Sakura and sat down.

"I guess I'll get everyone's food if you guys want. Which place do you want to go?" asked Naruto to everyone

"Bring me back some Dango" came a voice behind the girls.

Tenten, Sakura and Ino all turned to see their former procter Anko walked up with a grin.

"Hey everybody. Whats going on?" Anko asked with a heavy grin.

"Just ordering some food. Wanna join us?" asked Tenten.

"Sure. I never pass up the chance for Dango and company" she said sitting on the opposite end of the table as Kiba.

Naruto stood up then stepped back from the table to get the food.

"Oh hey Naruto, do you need some help?" asked Ino

Naruto answered, "Nope." he said quickly as he made a handseal. "Kage bunshin no jutsu." And from the smoke appeared 10 clones of Naruto going in different directions to get everyone's order of food. The original Naruto sat back down with a grin waiting from someone to bring up a conversation.

"So are you guys excited about tommorow? I hear its suppose to be awesome" Said Anko still with her grin.

Everyone looked at Anko and smiled with excitment.

"Yeah. Are you going Anko?" asked Sakura

"Yeah, I'll be there" said Anko "Like I'd pass that up either. Plus I know you guys are going to go on that tunnel ride, right?" Anko asked with a sly smirk.

Everyone went quiet for a moment then replied to her.

"Yeah, Im going on it. It should be interesting" said Tenten.

"Yeah, Im just curious to see who I am going to end up with at the end of the ride" said Ino

"Me too." Sakura agreed.

"Its a pointless ride" said Gaara in his normal voice with his arms still crossed.

"not to mention bothersome" said Shikamaru as lazy as ever.

"Well, I dont think that at all. I agree with Ino actually" said a smirking Temari.

Anko smiled at everyone "So who are your dates?...wait let me guess it. Im usually good at guessing" Anko said excitedly as she sat up in her chair and began to think. "Hmm..." Her eyes examined each chuunin one at a time starting with Shikamaru. "Shikamaru...hmm..." Her eyes coasted to the girl sitting next to him, "I bet your going with Temari, right?"

Shikamaru gave a sigh as Temari smiled. "Yep. Thats right" said Temari.

Anko threw her hand up in victory. "Yes! Okay, lets see...KazeKage Gaara of the Desert...hmm...this is a toughy.." she continued to think hard while looking at him.

Gaara gave a sigh then went monotonely to answer her "Let me save you the trouble. I am not going."

"Oh that was no fun" Anko said with a faded grin. "You should go. I bet youll have fun!" she tempted him.

"I doubt it" Gaara disagreed.

"hmph.. Okay. how about I take you up on that bet. I bet that youll smile at the festival atleast once. If you smile, I win but if you go the whole day without smiling once, then you win...deal?" Anko betted Gaara.

Gaara turned his head slightly downward and closed his eyes, "So what do I get WHEN I win" Gaara said to Anko

"Cocky are we?" Anko returned with a smirk. "But okay, IF you win, I'll be your slave for a week" she said with overconfidence.

Gaara eyes opened and his head once again lifted, "Hmm not a bad wager...and If you win?.." Gaara asked Anko

Anko's grin grew bigger, "If I win, then you'll have to be MY slave for a week."

"Wow" Kankuro and Temari said together. "Nice bet but Gaara...my brother...the sand's Kage...would never agree to that" said Kankuro with a smirk of confidence that his bro wouldnt take the bet.

"Agreed" Gaara said to Anko with his usual unemotional face. Temari and Kankuro's jaws literally dropped from the shock of him taking on the bet.

Anko sat back into her chair and smiled, "Then its settled, You'll be my date to the festival. That way we both can get pass the gates"

"Fine." said Gaara with his hands still crossed.

"Okay now that that has been settled..." Anko looked to the next person after Gaara. "Oh yeah...Kankuro. I already know about your puppet girls so..next"

Everyone gave a laugh to Kankuro as he put his head on the table in embarrasment. "Yeah, Yeah, Yeah...Just skip me" he said with a goofy hidden smile.

"..hmm... Kiba...Your going with...hmm..." Anko looked at Kiba with a strain of thinking who he was going with. "hmm...Aw! i give, who are you going with?"

Kiba and Ino laughed aloud. "Me and Ino are going together."

Anko's face turned confused for a moment, "So...are you two going as a couple or something?"

Ino and Kiba's face showed annoyance at her in a goofy fashion. "No, we are using each other to get in" Ino said to Anko.

"Oh, I knew that, I overheard you two explaining it the first time." Anko joked. "Okay, Now moving on...Tenten. This is an easy one...Your going with Neji Hyuuga, right?'

Tenten gave a smile as she looked down and slightly blushed, "Yeah. Thats right" she said agreeingly.

"Another one right! Yes! Okay" her eyes coasted over to Naruto then looked at Sakura. "Oh this one is just too easy. I would put all my money on Naruto and Sakura going together. You two look so cute together" Anko said. She grinned as she waited for Naruto or Sakura to tell her that she was right and that she would win that bet. Naruto's eyes shot open with shock as his mind suddenly began to be flooded with childhood moments of him and Sakura. Sakura eyes opened widely as well after hearing Anko's guess. Her head turned as she looked down.

"...is something wrong?" Anko asked with a confused face.

Kiba answered, "Lets just say you'd be broke after that bet" he said with a chuckle.

* * *

And thats Chapter 5. I thought Id add some more drama to the story and some more tension between Naruto and Sakura. Sorry about the late addition, this computer of mine started messing up and I wasnt able to get online for the longest but it is completely fixed now and more issues are to come soon! Please Review and a special thanks to all those who reviewed my other chapters. Thanks. 


	6. Flaws

Tunnel of Destined Love

**CHAPTER 6: FLAWS**

Later that day, after everyone had left the food court, Naruto walked home that night with his head held low thinking on what Anko had said.

_**NARUTO'S FLASHBACK:**_

Anko: I bet Naruto and Sakura are going together...

(Everyone goes quiet. Naruto and Sakura look down sadly)

Sakura looks up with a sweet smile at Anko

Sakura: Actually, Im going with Sai.

Naruto's eyes flinch slightly from Sakura's words

_**End Flashback**_

Naruto remained as quiet as he was then, his head slightly aching from his thoughts of his past with Sakura. "...I use to like her...i use to...love her" he said to himself in a low depressing whisper. "Do I still love her?...Do I love Hinata?" Naruto's headache began to take full strength as his mind stormed thinking about the two until a voice called out from behind him.

"Naruto..." Called a girl's voice sounding low with a hint of depression in it.

Naruto's eyes shot open as he turned fully around and saw none other than Sakura walking up behind him with her hands to her sides and a semi smile on her face.

"Hey Naruto..."

"Sa..Sakura-Chan.. What are you doing here?" he asked Sakura. "Your house is the other way, isnt it?"

Sakura responed, "Yeah...I just wanted to talk to you about something. Do you have time?"

Naruto looked on at Sakura with a confused surprised face then changed to warm smile, "Sure" he answered the pink haired kunoichi.

Sakura returned his smile with a sweet smile of her own and made her way to the side of him and they both began to walk slowly along each other.

"So, Sakura-Chan, Whats the matter?"

"...Nothing. We havent had time to talk much since the mission with Kakashi and Sai. Just the two of us" Sakura said with a smile.

Naruto gave a smile, "Yeah.." Naruto said nodding his head. "So, excited about tommorow?"

Sakura's smile never faded "Yes, I can't wait. Its going to be great. Its even better now since Tsunade moved the park's opening time from 10pm to 11:30am. It was originally going to be an all-night kinda deal but she thought it would be better this way."

Naruto smiled to her once more, "So...are you going on Ero-senin's ride? Thats the big attraction that everyone is dying to go on"

"Well...Im not sure. I don't really know about the whole destiny thing. And besides, what if you wound up with a person that you do not expect. Or what if you end up with another guy. Arent you curious about that even alittle?" asked Sakura

Naruto placed his hand on his chin and looked up in thinking on what she said.

_**NARUTO'S THOUGHTS:**_

Naruto sits in the boat in the dark waiting for it to coast on into the moonlight

Naruto grins and waits as the boat gets even closer to the light.

Naruto gulps in nervousness waiting to see who is sitting next to him

The moonlight shines on the person sitting next to him revealing...Gaara sitting with his usual posture

Naruto: OO screams in fear

_**Thoughts end**_

Naruto snaps back to reality shaking his head in disgust. "I see your point." Naruto said looking to the ground. "But..." Sakura looked to the side of her at Naruto who suddenly lifted his head up smiling, "Itll be fun to know who I am destined for...even if it is someone I am not expecting." He said grinning looking up at the stary sky.

Sakura looked at him closely as he looked up. In that short a time, she began to remember all the times they spent together. The time when she helped the girls beat him down for being the first to kiss Sasuke; the time when she threw the kunai to catch him from his fall; the time when she cheered for him against his fight against Kiba; the time when he cheered for her against Ino; the time when he saved her from Gaara; the time when she cried for him when they infiltrated Orochimaru's stronghold; and finally the time when she found out about the Kyuubi inside of him and how worried she became for him.

Her stare at him never left as she finally remembered the moment when her and Yamato were talking about her feelings toward Naruto. She didnt hear him finish his sentence but she knew he was going to say that she loves Naruto that day. She smiled at Naruto then looked down. Naruto's glare at the stars ended as he looked forward seeing his house finally. Naruto and Sakura didnt say anything after that moment until they reached Naruto's house.

"Wow Sakura-chan, it feels like we just came back from a date or something" Naruto said laughing with his hands behind his head as they finally reach the front of his house

Sakura gave another sweet smile and looked on at Naruto after stopping and turning to face him. "Yeah, it...does kinda."

Naruto grinned big, "Well I guess I'll see you tommorow at the festival" he said to her as he turned and placed his hand on the door knob.

"Yeah...goodnight...Naruto." she said with a smile.

Naruto opened the door and took one step in then turned to face Sakura.

"Wait...I should walk you home. Its not safe to be by yourself at night." Naruto said with his usual face and tone.

"No, I'll be fine. Really dont worry about me. The moonlight is enough light for me to get home." she said with a reassuring smile.

Naruto's expression changed to a smile. "Okay... I guess I'll see you tommorow then." said Naruto

"Yeah... See ya... Naruto" she said slowly. She quickly gave him a sweet smile and turned around and began her journey home.

Naruto looked on at her walking for a moment and smiled then closed the door. After he locked the door, he flipped up the light switch and turned around...

"NARUTO! WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN!"

Naruto jumped up and his eyes shot open with suprise. "ERO-SENIN! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING IN MY HOUSE!"

Jiraiya's expression was a goofy mad face. "ITS 12:50AM! YOU HAVE A CURFEW! REMEMBER!"

"SINCE WHEN! AND WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE, GIVING ME A CURFEW? ERO-SENIN, YOU'RE NOT MY DADDY!" Shouted Naruto in a goofy rage facing the goofy raged Jiraiya.

"NARUTO DONT BE SO RECKLESS! HAVE YOU FORGOTTEN THAT THE AKATSUKI ARE AFTER YOU STILL? THEY COULD HAVE EASILY CAPTURED YOU WHILE YOU WERE WALKING HERE ALONE!"

Naruto snickered and threw his hands behind his head once more, "heh, i wasnt alone, i was with Sakura-chan"

Jiraiya crossed his arms and looked at Naruto with a calm face, "Sakura is strong, but it would have been useless if Itachi or the others had shown up. Most likely, they would have killed her and taken you hostage." Jiraiya explained.

Naruto gave a quick look to Jiraiya and walked passed him and sat down in a rocking chair and began rocking back and forth. Jiraiya gave out a sigh and walked over to Naruto and sat on his couch. "So, all that aside, I hear from Tsunade that you are going to the festival tommorow. Who are you taking? And are you going on my famous tunnel ride?"

Naruto gave a smirk to the sanin, "Yes I am going on the ride and I going with Hinata."

Jiraiya gave a smile, "So, she finally got up the courage to ask you, huh? Thats great. Shes seems like a nice girl."

Naruto smiled, "Yeah she is. I like her."

"Good for you, Naruto. Oh, I guess i should tell you about the flaw in the tunnel of destiny."

Naruto became confused from the statement, "Flaw?"

"Yes, the issue of the person who you are destined for, if they don't get on the ride...thats the flaw. Surprisingly, I havent considered this problem back when i made the ride."

"So wait... whats the flaw?" naruto asked

Jiraiya answered, "Well, after some research and some past experience with it, ive found out that if a person where to ride the tunnel ride..and their destined lover wasnt on the ride at all, that person would..."

Naruto sat up in suspense, "that person would...what?"

".Whoever ended up sitting next to you...their destiny would be forcefully connected to yours in a way that has nothing to do with love."

Naruto's eyes shot open once more. "Stupid Ero-Sennin! How could you have not thought of this before?" Naruto continued on yelling at Jiraiya in a goofy rage.

"Calm down Naruto, It has been taking care of already. Remember that package that your team delivered during your last mission? Well that was a secret forbidden scroll. Its called the Destiny Limiter. It contains a jutsu that I made a couple of weeks ago that wont allow a person to get on the ride if their destined lover isnt getting on it at all. Tsunade kept this confidential because any jutsu that has the power to alter destiny in any way, shape or form is strictly forbidden.I had you Tsunade give it to your team specifically to deliver to a good friend of mine named Hiroshi. He specializes in these types of things so i needed him to check on a few things and work out the small problems with it before i use it tommorow"

Naruto snapped his fingers, "I see. Thats why we ran into so many ninjas trying to get the package...they wanted the Destiny Limiter scroll."

"Yes, how they found out about it is beyond me...hold on...what village where the ninjas from?"

"The sound village...why?"

Jiraiya's eyes shot open as naruto's did before "Orochimaru.. he knows about it. He must of sent a spy here and spied on me and Tsunade when we were discussing it. Its quite possible that he sent his best ninja to spy... and only one ninja under Orochimaru is that good to spy on us and not be detected...

Naruto shot up in shock "...Sasuke" he said slowly.

Jiraiya thought for a moment and leaned back onto Naruto's couch kicking his feet up, "Yeah i was thinking Sasuke as well. Its quite possible he may show up during the opening time of the ride when I go to use the scroll. It may be possible that Orochimaru plans on invading Konoha that night as well. Im going to need you to be on guard just incase anything happens"

"Okay. I will. You can count on me Ero-sennin!" Naruto said as he pointed a fist at Jiraiya and smirked at him.

Jiraiya returned the smirk and layed down completely on the couch. "Well Im just going to sleep here for the night, this couch of yours is just so comfy. Good night Naruto" he said quickly then went silent.

"Hey! Who said you could sleep on my..huh?" Naruto's yelling was seized as he saw Jiraiya already sleeping and snoring loudly. He gave a small smile to his sensei and put a blanket over him and tucked him in quietly. "good night, Ero-sennin" said naruto silently then went to bed.

The next morning, Naruto awakened upstairs in his room wearing his usually doggy hat and pajamas. He jumped out of bed and glanced over at his clock. "Its 10:33am." he said to himself. "The park opens at 11:30am and the tunnel opens later at 10:00 tonight. I gotta hurry up and get dressed" Naruto said to himself as he jumped in his closet and got dressed, wearing his new black shirt with the changing color swirl on the front. Suddenly, his door bell rang once. "hmm...wonder who that is..." he said to himself putting on his pants "Well theyre going to have to wait, im putting my clothes on." he said not botherin to run downstairs to get the door. Suddenly, the door bell stopped and Naruto suddenly began to smell something...someone was cooking...

sniff "smells like...bacon...eggs. and toast Naruto said to himself as he marveled at the smell of food. "But wait..who?" he asked then quickly ran downstairs now fully dressed and saw to his amazement what was going on. Jiraiya, wearing an apron that says 'Kiss the Chef please' and a chef hat, holding a spatula, was cooking breakfast.

"What the? Your still here?" he asked Jiraiya

"Yeah, I thought Id cook you some breakfast..." Jiraiya said as he flipped the eggs and checked the oven for the toast.

"Oh...who was that at the door?" Naruto asked then suddenly came another voice behind him.

"Hello...N-Naruto-kun"

Naruto turned around and again to his amazement saw a beautifully dressed Hinata wearing a white shirt with pink and purple designs on it. Her hair long, straight and purple. Naruto looked on at her with practically his jaw dropped. "You look great, Hinata" said Naruto walking over and giving her a hug. Hinata blushed as she always did but maintained consciousness this time. Hinata gave him a nodd and a warm cute smile for thanks.

"Come on you two, time to eat!" called Jiraiya as he put food on the table for them and himself. All three of them sat down and began eating, talking, and enjoying each other's company.

After breakfast, Naruto rose from the table and grinned. "Thanks Ero-senin," he said to him grabbing Hinata's hand and began running toward the door. "We gotta go, See Ya!" he yelled out to him. Hinata, now blushing, gave a quick wave at Jiraiya.

"Dont forget about what we talked about Naruto. Stay sharp and be aware just in case..." Jiraiya said quickly to the rushing Naruto. Naruto gave a nod and left dragging a blushing Hinata to the Konoha park.

At the Konoha Park front gates, Naruto and Hinata both stood in a long line waiting to get into the park. "This is going to be fun" said Naruto.

Hinata nodded, "Y-yeah...Oh look, theres Kiba and Ino" she said pointing. "and theres Shikamaru and Temari. Anko and Gaara are over there as well." she said pointing to them.

"Cool. Lets go talk to them. Plus I want to see who wins that bet with Gaara and Anko" Naruto said laughing. And with that, Naruto and Hinata met up with the others and talked.

Unknowingly to everyone, lurking in the shadow of the leaves of a nearby tree, was Sasuke Uchiha wearing his sound shinobi attire. "Soon..." Suddenly, Orochimaru instantly appeared beside Sasuke with a smirk on his face, "Yes, Sasuke. Soon, that scroll well be ours.." he said as he then started to chuckle maniacally, feeling the air with a foreshadow of something bad to come.

* * *

And thats Chapter 6. I felt i had to fill in some loose gaps by having Jiraiya explain things to Naruto. Well I hope you guys liked it. I figured Id throw a twist into it with the appearance of Sasuke and the plan of Orochimaru. Please Review. Thanks alot. 


	7. Orochimaru's Plan In Action

Tunnel of Destined Love

**CHAPTER 7 - OROCHIMARU'S PLAN**

****

****

"Hey Anko" Naruto said as he and Hinata walked up to Anko and a gourd-less Gaara. Anko turned to face the two and smile as the Gaara just turned his head with his arms still folded.

"Oh, Hey!" Anko said with a smile. "You guys ready to have some fun?" she asked. Gaara remained silent as he finally turned fully toward them still with his arms folded as usual.

"Yeah its going to be great." replied Naruto excitedly while Hinata stood with a smile. "I _really_ can't wait for the tunnel ride to open. I wonder who I am going to end up with." Naruto said with a fist in the air from his excitment.

Hinata blushed and smiled at her date and imagined what the ride would be like herself. "Y-yeah. Me too..." Hinata continued to smile then looked at Anko then to Gaara. "Hey Gaara, are y-you going on the tunnel too?" she asked the kazekage.

Gaara looked at Hinata then replied, "No. Its pointless. I am only here to win the bet. Nothing more."

Anko placed her hand on her hip and gave a smirk hearing Gaara's remark, "hmph, your way in over your head, Gaara. Ive been to this place when I was a little girl. Believe me, this place will definitely crack a smile on that face of yours." she said looking at him with her confident smirk.

Gaara simply shrugged, "Hmph... we'll see about that."

Naruto and Hinata simply smiled on at the two as the long line into the park began to move.

"Finally!" shouted Naruto as they got closer to the entrance gates. "I thought the line would never move"

"Yeah, It was always like this when I use to come here" replied Anko. "I even helped Orochimaru make his haunted house. Of course, Im not sure if they will be opening that, though."

"Why not?" asked Hinata

Anko turned her face toward Hinata, "Because Orochimaru is a very dangerous villian to Konoha and he could have done anything to it that may be dangerous to anyone who goes in. We can't trust him. Matter of fact, Im suprised they haven't ordered for demolition on it." she said turning her head to look forward at the entrance gates.

"I bet that haunted house isnt scary at all" said Gaara still looking forward; his face still deprived of a smile.

"Tsk...Your going down Gaara. Prepare to be my slave for a week" Anko said with a sly smirk.

"Hm.. Lets get this over with" he said moving on with the line as they finally reached the entrance and went inside.

Naruto's eye filled with excitment as the loud roars of the rollar coasters, the melodies and music of the gaming booths, the smell of french fries and funnel cakes, and the screams of Konoha's children having fun on thrill rides.

"Well you guys, me and Gaara are going this way" Anko said to them while pointing to the rollercoaster. "We'll see ya later." she said walking in that direction afterwards. Gaara nodded to Naruto in farewell then turned around and walked along side Anko with his hands never unfolding and face never showing a sign of enjoyment.

Naruto smiled then turned his attention to Hinata. "Okay Hinata, which ride should we go on first?" he asked her.

"H-how about the bumper cars?" she asked him with her hands against her mouth from her shyness.

"Okay, Lets go!" shouted Naruto in an explosion of excitment as he grabbed Hinata's hand and dragged her over to the short line of the bumper cars. Hinata blushed deeply from Naruto grabbing her hand and dragging her to the bumper car attraction.

The wait for the bumper cars wasnt long as Naruto and Hinata entered into the bumping area and got into their own bumper car. Naruto looked around and smiled at Hinata who was just getting into a blue car. Suddenly, a voice sounded into the air.

"ALRIGHT, MAKE SURE YOUR SEATS ARE FASCINED! ITS TIME TO FOR SOME BUMPER CARS XTREME!" shouted the announcer of the ride from the microphone's intercom.

"Uh oh... This is Tsunade's ride.." he said starting to freak out after quickly remembering what Kakashi said about it.

"ALRIGHT PEOPLE! ARE YOU READY?... GO!"

And the bumper cars began. Everyone began to bump into one another as a melody played softly. Naruto started as well as he bumped into Konohamaru's car. "Hmph, this isnt so bad. I dont know why I was so scared." he said with a smirk until suddenly, the announcer came back on the p.a

"THATS ENOUGH OF THE KID STUFF...TIME TO TURN IT UP TO THE XTREME!" said the announcer who then reached over and flipped up a lever that made a light flash red saying "XTREME! TIME"

Just then, all the bumper cars began to transform, having jet boosters appear on the back of the cars.

Naruto pressed on the gas lightly and was sent flying 10x faster than he was going. Barely being able to breathe from the extreme speed, Naruto's car continued on straight as another car began to drive along side his. Naruto turned and saw Kakashi driving easily at that incredible speed.

"K-Kakashi-sensei...what the?...w-what are you doing h-here" asked Naruto trying to breathe and talk at the same time.

"Just having some fun...oh..and you might want to turn, your heading straight for the wall" Kakashi said as he turned off to the side and bumped Asuma.

Naruto placed his hands on the steering wheel and tried to turn but to no avail. His steering wheel had jammed and wouldnt turn. "Oh no... This stupid wheel wont turn" he said to himself as he got closer to the wall. Naruto started to scream out loud as he was about to crash, until...

"THANK YOU FOR RIDING BUMPER CARS...TO THE XTREME."

Naruto's car had just stopped in enough time to just harmlessly tap the wall. "Whew... That was a close one." He said as he wiped off some sweat and jumped out his his bumper car and headed toward the exit. Once out, he met back up with Hinata who was already out sitting on a bench waiting for him.

"Naruto-kun, Are y-you alright? I saw you were about to hit t-the wall" she said looking at him.

Naruto smiled and gave a thumbs up, "Yeah, I had it all under control." he lied as he grinned to her. "So whats next?"

Hinata gave a shy smile and looked around. "W-well.. lets do something..you want to do now" she replied.

"Hmm, okay. How about a calm ride this time. Like the...uh..." Naruto looked around for a calmer ride and finally spotted one. "The ferris wheel! lets go on the ferris wheel" suggested Naruto.

Hinata gave a smile and nodded to Naruto in agreement.

The ferris wheel began to fill up fast with people as Naruto and Hinata got into one of the ferris wheel carts. After being filled with people, the ride started to move slowly, sending Naruto and Hinata's cart upward slowly then downward. The ride continued on at a normal slow pace...

Hinata sat looking on at the high view of Konoha as Naruto sat on the other side of the cart looking in the other direction then looked at Hinata. "Wow... Hinata looks really beautiful today.." Naruto thought to himself. "Hey...Hinata.." said Naruto to get her attention.

Hinata turned her gaze from the high view of the land to Naruto. "Y-yeah...Naruto-kun."

Naruto looking into her eyes, suddenly starting to remember times when they were together and the time when Sakura told Naruto that Hinata always watches him in secretcy. "Well...I..umm...Can I sit on that side with you?" he asked her with a sincere smile as he was still looking into her eyes.

Hinata blushed a deep red and turned her face quickly to the side and looked downward. "Uh..y-yeah." She replied nervously.

Naruto smiled and got up from his side and sat down next to Hinata. Hinata blush was now uncontrollably deep as she felt him sit down next to her. She slowly turned her head back over facing Naruto who was looking out at the ground from the other way. She smiled and slowly began to turn the other way before suddenly...

"Hinata..." said Naruto who was again looking at her and sitting close to her.

Hinata looked at Naruto with wide open eyes from the shock and moved her hand up to her chin and lips from her extreme shyness. "Y-yess?..N-naruto-kun..."

**Meanwhile** In the shadow of a big tree, Sasuke and Orochimaru watched on as everyone in Konoha was having fun.

"Its time..." said Orochimaru with a smirk.

"Hmph, I'll get it with no problem. There is no need to send _them_ in" said Sasuke emotionless.

"Patience Sasuke, you will get your chance." Orochimaru ensured him as five shadowy figures appeared behind them. "Besides, Ive resurrected these guys just for this. But, I guess it can't be helped. You may go in with them if you please."

"Understood." said Sasuke as he disappeared along with the shadowy figures leaving an evil smirking Orochimaru.

Naruto smiled not saying a word. Seeing this, Hinata's blush began to flare badly now. She wanted to turn away but at the same time she didnt. "I just wanted to say that... Im glad we came together..."

Hinata managed a smile, "Me t-too" she said noticing that Naruto's face was drawing close to hers as if he was about to kiss her. Hinata smiled finally giving in to it and leaned over to Naruto. Just as they were about to kiss, the ferris wheel began to shake mysteriously.

Naruto jumped back to in shock. "What was that!" he shouted as he looked around then suddenly it began to shake again, this time sounding as if something broke.

Hinata looked downward and saw what was causing the quakes. "Naruto-kun! Look!" she said to him. Naruto went to where she was and looked down.

"What the?" yelled a suprised Naruto as he saw Jirobo of the sound four punching the leg beam of the ferris wheel. "Its that guy from the sound four... I thought Chouji said he killed him" he said to Hinata.

Jirobo continued to punch the beams holding up the ferris wheel when suddenly Tayuya walked up behind him.

"You fat ass! We are not here to break things. We are here for the destiny scroll." Tayuya said to him.

"Hmph. Your mouth is as foul as ever, Tayuya. I always wanted to terrorize these many people at one time but I guess you are right this time. Let me just get in one..last..punch." he said to her as he pulled back for a haymaker and punched hard onto the ferris wheel breaking the leg of it then left with Tayuya to find the scroll.

"That bastard is going to kill everyone on this ride." yelled Naruto as the ferris wheel began to sway deep to the side.

"We're going to crash into the ground." said Hinata.

"Hinata, how many are on this wheel?" asked Naruto

"I'll check" said Hinata "Byakugan!" she said activating her Byakugan eyes. "This is bad. Theres alot of younger kids on here. There are also a couple of older kids like us."

"Okay, You save everyone on this side and I'll save everyone on the other side." he said to her. Hinata agreed and jumped over to the next car as did Naruto to the others. Both of them, using the wall walking ability, got the inexperience others and ran them down to the ground as fast as they could with the help of a couple other experienced chuunins.

Naruto came running down the ferris wheel with two young genins under his arm and one holding on to him from his neck. Once on the ground, Naruto placed them down and turned to Hinata. "Thats all of 'em" said Naruto. Suddenly, the other leg of the ferris wheel snapped from the pressure of no support of the other leg and began to fall in the direction of everyone panicing below.

Everyone started to scream seeing the giant attraction about to fall on them. Thinking fast, Naruto began to pound his open right hand palm with his left hand, gathering up chakra into a small sphere. Once he was ready, he quickly jumped up toward the falling ferris wheel and thrusted his chakra sphere on it. "Rasengan!" he shouted out. The force from the Rasengan shot the ferris wheel the other way falling onto the water on the other side. Naruto landed back on the ground and looked back at everyone running and panicing. "Orochimaru is behind this...he's after the destiny scroll." Naruto said to Hinata as he looked at her when suddenly, another suprise came walking up to them. "If it isnt Naruto..." came the voice. Naruto's suprised heightened as he turned and saw Sasuke standing infront of him. HInata looked over at the merry-go-round and saw Jirobo about to smash it up. She quickly jumped over and landed infront of him and positioned herself into the gentle fist stance prepared to fight him.

"Sasuke! What are you doing here?" Naruto shouted at him.

Sasuke gave a smirk, "Hmph, the others are going around looking for it but I know you know where it is. Tell me" he said to Naruto in a cocky manner.

"Even if I did know where it was, I wouldnt tell you" Naruto shouted at him getting ready to fight him.

Sasuke stood silent looking on at Naruto. "Then I will kill you like I should have done before. This time i wont show you mercy" Sasuke said with a smirk as he suddenly disappeared.

Naruto gave a smirk and put his hand out and suddenly caught Sasuke's fist. "That speed of yours wont work on me this time, Sasuke." said Naruto with a smile. "Kakashi has been giving me special training just for this moment" he said managing to keep Sasuke's fist in his hand.

Sasuke's smirk never faded, "Hmm I see you have gotten stronger. This will be interesting." he said then saw Naruto pull back his other hand into a fist then thrusted it forward at Sasuke. Sasuke easily caught the fist with his open hand and looked at Naruto; Both of them began to struggle against each other.

Meanwhile, Sakura joined Hinata in fighting against Jirobo. Sakura's punch met with a transformed curse seal level 2 Jirobo. After the clash, Sakura and Jirobi threw both hands out and placed their fingers between one another and began to push at each other in a struggle of strength. "Now Hinata!" shouted Sakura holding his hands in restraint in the struggle tug-of-war of strength.

"Right!" replied Hinata as she slid between the two and began to strike Jirobo's tenketsus then pulled back both palms and struck hard in Jirobo's heart area with the gentle fist. Jirobo, now without chakra and damaged organs near the heart, fell backwards onto the ground dead again. "Yes!" shouted Sakura as her and Hinata gave a high five to one another for the teamwork then ran over to help Kiba and Ino fight a transformed Sakon and Ukon. In the fight, Ino turned to see Naruto fighting Sasuke.

"Sasuke?... This is my chance to bring him back to Konoha" she thought as she ran toward the two ex-friends' tug-of-war struggle. She then put out her hands as she was about to perform the Mind transfer jutsu. "If I do the Mind Disturbance technique, there is a good chance that his dramatic increased strength will make it uneffective. Its better if I just take over his body until the anbu restrains him. Then I'll just undo the jutsu and he'll be caught. I just hope Naruto can hold him still.." Ino thought.

On the other side of the park, Gaara and Anko faced off against Kimimaru, Neji, Tenten, and Gai faced off against Kidomaru, and finally Shikamaru, Temari, and Asuma faced off against Tayuya.

"Alright... Now. Shintenshin no Jutsu!" said Ino as she shot out her soul toward Sasuke. Sensing something coming, Sasuke quickly dodged off to the right and pushed Naruto into the path of the Mind Transfer jutsu. Ino gave out a gasp before her body fell to the floor lifeless. Sakura, seeing Ino fall to the ground after using her jutsu, ran over to her body and kneeled down to left up Ino's head. Once the soul hit Naruto, he stammered some before standing back up with Ino in control of his body. Sakura looked on at Sasuke to see if the jutsu worked but to her horror, she saw that the person who was hit with her jutsu was not Sasuke, but Naruto instead.

"Oh no! Ino... If she is in Naruto's mind..." Sakura gasped as she realized that Ino was in danger.

**IN THE CORRIDORS OF NARUTO'S MIND**

Ino wakes up sitting on the ground next to an unconscious Naruto.

"Naruto?..." Ino said as she saw him laying there unconscious. "Where am I?... Is this...Naruto's mind?" she said to herself, getting up on her feet and looking around. Suddenly, she began to hear growls coming from down the closest hallway. "What is that?..." she thought as she began to walk down the biggest hallway. Upon reaching the end of the hall way, she came upon a giant cage with a piece of paper on it that reads "Seal" on it. "Seal? What is in there?" she asked as she walked closer to it.

"Ku Ku Ku...Who are you?" came a voice from the cage.

Ino gasped then looked closer into the cage but didnt see anything.

"Ku ku...walk closer to the cage..." said the voice to Ino. Ino, through curiousity began to walk closer then stopped after suddenly the growls got louder and more furocious. Then, huge sharp claws came between the spaces of the bars and reached for Ino. Ino began to scream at this sight as the tip of the Kyuubi's claws reached Ino and red chakra began to wrap around her foot dragging her closer to the cage.

Hearing the loud screams of Ino, Naruto awakened and looked around then heard the screams once more. "OH NO! INO!" Naruto yelled as he ran down to the cage and saw Ino being dragged into the cage of the Kyuubi. Naruto ran up to her before being sucked into the cage and grabbed her hand to pull her out.

"DAMN FOX! LET HER GO!" yelled Naruto as he pulled harder on her arm.

Sasuke stood there looking on at Naruto(Ino) as the body just stood there then suddenly started to grasp Naruto's head and yelling loudly in horror. Sakura looked on at the screaming Naruto body in horror and yelled for Ino to undo the jutsu.

NARUTO'S MIND

"Ino! Undo the mind jutsu! Hurry!" he yelled to her. Ino struggled and quickly undid the jutsu.

Back in her body, Ino was in shock and was shaking badly in Sakura's arms. "Ino! are you alright" Ino shook her head slightly and fainted.

Naruto stood alittle confused then regained his posture. Sasuke looked at Naruto then suddenly sensed that all the resurrected sound five have been killed and that he was surrounded by all the chuunins and jounins. Knowing that he had no chance to fight them all himself, he disappeared and fled the scene after looking back at Sakura.

Kakashi kneeled down next to Sakura. "Sorry I was too late. What happened to Ino?"

Sai walked up behind Kakashi and kneeled down by him.

"She was attacked mentally. She should be alright though.She just needs some rest" she said to them.

"Well all the sound five have been taken care of. Theres still Sasuke and Orochimaru out there so we have dispatched some Anbu units to track them down if they're nearby still."

Naruto jumped down from the platform he was on and walked over to Kakashi, Sakura and Sai.

* * *

Thats the end of this chapter. Sorry for making it so long. The next chapter is the last chapter, just if you wanted to know if the ending was coming near. Yes, the ending to this story is next chapter. I hope you guys like this chapter too. I had to have the fight go on and everything like this for a reason. Also, this isnt the last time youll see Sasuke either. . CHAPTER 8 PREVIEW: After repairs are done to the festival, there is only 2 hours left to have fun before the official opening of the Tunnel of destiny. Will Naruto end up with Hinata? Will he end up with Sakura? Will he end up with someone else? Will it even let him on the ride? Will Anko win her bet, or will Gaara have his own personal slave for a week? And someone makes a surprise last showing. See what destiny has in store for everyone on the last chapter. Please review too.CHAPTER 8 - DESTINY coming soon. Thanks to everyone who did review also. 


	8. Final Destiny

---Tunnel of Destined Love---

**FINAL CHAPTER- DESTINY**

"What a shame." Said Sai as he stood next to Kakashi and Sakura, "Everyone's fun was ruined thanks to Orochimaru"

"Yeah well, most of the jounins had suspected something was going to happen. That destiny scroll is too important to Orochimaru's plans for him to just pass it up." replied Kakashi reading his book and standing up against a tree.

"So I guess the Konoha park is over now, huh?" asked Sakura

"Not neccessarily." Kakashi answered, "In fact, it should be up and running again in no time."

"In enough time for the tunnel?" asked Naruto sitting down on the ground.

"You guys'll have 1 hour before the tunnel opens. So about 9 O'clock will be the reopening time." Kakashi answered again.

Naruto crossed his arms and thought to himself. "Well, I'm pretty sure we can find something to do until that time. Ill gotta go explain things to Hinata so she'll know." said Naruto getting up and dusting himself off.

Kakashi nodded as did Sai and Sakura. "Well, I guess that leaves me to tell the rest of the chuunins about this then" Kakashi said as he closed his book and disappeared with Sai. Sakura stood there looking at the ground then looked at Naruto.

"I'll go help them with that" Sakura said then disappeared also. Naruto nodded and looked to see if he could spot out Hinata but didnt see her.

Naruto slowly coasted the grounds thinking and looking at the same time. "Hmm... " he hummed to himself. He looked up slowly and gave out a sigh of boredom then looked down to check his watch; which showed around 8:25. Naruto placed his arm back down to his side and looked around once more when he suddenly spotted Neji and Tenten sitting on a bench outside the department store.

Naruto walked up to them with a smile. "Hey Neji... Tenten. What are you two doing?"

Tenten smiled at Naruto, "Nothing really. Just talking about the Tunnel ride." she faced Neji with a smile then looked back at Naruto, "Its so exciting to think about. I hope I see Neji in the moonlight at the end. Its so romantic" Tenten said then giggled playfully.

Naruto smiled at Tenten then looked at Neji whom was slightly blushing after hearing Tenten. "Aww, Neji's blushing. I thought I'd never see that day..." Naruto teased him and grinned big at the silent Hyuuga.

"Well, tonight we'll finally know if we are meant to be." she said blushing herself. She looked over at the Jounin Hyuuga and grabbed his hand softly.

Naruto couldnt help but smile at the two love birds, "I hope you guys end up for each other." he said placing his hands behind his head in a carefree manor.

Tenten grinned and nodded at Naruto then snuggled closer to Neji who looked at Naruto with concern.

Neji finally spoke up, "Who do you want to end up with?... Naruto" Neji asked with a straight face.

Naruto's eyes widened then returned to normal as he looked off to the side, "Well, I really like Hinata... but I think I like Sakura-chan too" Naruto said in a sad low voice.

"Who knows, You might end up with both!" said a voice from behind Naruto. Naruto turned to see a laughing Kiba walk up behind him.

"Kiba? What are you doing here? Wheres Ino?" Naruto asked looking at the grinning Kiba. "Is she feeling better?"

"Oh, yeah, she's alright now. she went inside the department store." he said dying down his grinning.

"I see." he said to Kiba then turned to Neji. "Hey, have you seen Hinata?" he asked

"Uh... she was in the park alone last time I saw her. She looked kinda sad by the way" said Kiba "I tried talking to her but it seemed like an emotional problem and thought it would be best if she had some alone time"

Naruto turned toward the forest and ran off as fast as he could without saying a word to Neji, Tenten or Kiba.

Tenten turned to Neji whose face showed that he knew something. "Neji?..."

Kiba looked at Neji as well waiting for any answer to Hinata's sudden problems that he may know of.

Neji turned to Tenten and answered the unasked question, "When everyone left the park after the attack from the sound, Hinata went home and was confronted by Hiashi." Neji's eyes became narrower as he continued on with the explanation...

**AT OROCHIMARU'S LAIR-------------------------------------**

In the depths of his lair, Orochimaru and Sasuke engage in conversation as Kabuto listened.

"That was a complete waste of time. We accomplished nothing. I guess your plans weren't as perfect as you thought" said Sasuke to Orochimaru.

Kabuto leaned his face close to Sasuke's ear, "You really should watch that mouth of yours. Show some respect to Orochimaru-sama."

Orochimaru smiled then began to chuckle evily. "On the contrary, Sasuke... Everything went exactly how I wanted it to go." Orochimaru said with a smirk.

"So you sacrificed meaningless lives to resurrect the Sound 5 just to have them killed off again? We did not retrieve the Destiny scroll. Nothing was accomplished." Sasuke said crossing his arms.

Orochimaru grinned and smirked evily still. He rose to his feet and began to walk over to an alter. Once there, he looked down and began to laugh again evily. "Sasuke... come. See for yourself."

Sasuke snickered and walked over to the alter and looked down. Suddenly, Sasuke's eyes widened in surprise at the two items that lay there on the altar. "B-but...how?" he said surpised at what he sees.

Orochimaru began to laugh evily once again as Kabuto pushed up his glasses. "Hmph, You have alot to learn Sasuke-kun. Orochimaru-sama is brilliant when it comes to tricking people." Kabuto said chuckling.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

At the park, Hinata sat on a swing swaying back and forth slowly while looking downward thinking. "Naruto-kun...I'm sorry" she said to herself lightly.

"Sorry about what?" came a voice from behind Hinata. Suprised, Hinata turned her head to see Naruto smiling down at her while he was holding on to the chains of her swing.

Hinata looked back into Naruto's eyes then slowly turned back around looking at the ground.

Naruto's smile faded as he sat on the swing next to her's and looked over to her sad face. "Hinata?..."

"Naruto-kun... I cannot ride the tunnel of destiny." she said with eyes filled with tears.

Naruto continued to look at her, "What? Why not?... Is it that...you don't like me?" asked Naruto with a sad expression.

"I-its not that... N-Naruto-kun...its just that..." Hinata's speech went into a short hesitant pause but she pressed on to complete her statement, "... my father"

Naruto's eye twitched slightly, "Your father? What about him?"

Hinata went on to explain. "He doesn't a-approve of us. He doesnt like the chance of u-us ending up t-together..." she said slowly and still not looking at him.

Naruto rose from his swing and walked infront of Hinata then kneeled down to face her. Hinata turned her face from Naruto to hide her tears from him. Naruto moved his hands and placed them on each of Hinata's cheeks, softly turning her face to face his. Hinata's tear felt eyes widened and she began to blush seeing Naruto holding her face so soft and lovingly. Naruto looked into her eyes not saying anything; Hinata returned the gaze still blushing.

"Hinata... " Naruto said softly; never breaking eye contact.

Hinata looked back into his eyes...

Naruto's lips began to curve upward into a soft smile "...You should know...Hinata...you're my angel..."

Hinata's eyes shot wide from hearing this and began to blush widely but remained unmoved as she looking into his loving eyes. "N-Naruto-kun..."

Naruto grinned to her then took his hands from her face and placed them back to his sides. He stared into her eyes silently with a smile. Hinata's eyes began to swell with tears then suddenly she lounged out at Naruto, tackling him in a hug on the ground. She began to cry on his chest as she embraced him closely and tightly as if she was releasing all of her sadness at once.

Naruto smiled warmly and wrapped his arms around her as she cried and hugged him tightly. "Let it out, Hinata. I'm here... I'll always be here for you...cry as much as you need." he said smiling and caressing her soothingly.

Hinata continued to cry on Naruto as they embraced each other lovingly on the ground of the park under the bright stars of the night. After awhile, Hinata's crying came to a stop. Naruto looked down at her and smiled warmly as he moved his finger to playfully tassle her hair softly as she drifted off to sleep in his arms. For that instant, to Hinata, she was in paradise. She felt safe in the arms of Naruto and felt calm under the nightsky as if she had escape the world and her troubles...in his arms, she felt right; she finally felt truely happy. Naruto looked back up into the nightsky feeling something in the pit of his stomach... "Is this what being truely happy feels like.." he said with a smile. "Hinata... you were always there for me; even when I didnt know it. You rooted for me when I fought someone on your team... you never laughed at me. You always trusted me... even when I was horribly wrong...you were there by me anyway... and for that Hinata... I love you..." he said softely as he drifted off into a slumber. Naruto has truely found happiness

Naruto's eyes slowly began to open from him being sleep. Once fully wake, he noticed that Hinata was still embracing him and that she was still sleep. Naruto unwrapped his arm from Hinata and looked at his watch. "9:53!.. The park has been open for 53 minutes!" he yelled. Hinata awakened and finally let go of Naruto as she yawned and wiped her eyes with her sleeve.

Naruto looked from the watch and jumped up to his feet, "Feel better?" he asked Hinata with a smile.

Hinata gave a smile back to Naruto and nodded. "What time is it?"

Naruto answered, "Its 9:54 now. We have to get to the park before the openning of the tunnel!" he said then bent over infront of Hinata. "Here, get on. I'll carry you." he said with a smirk. "I'll get us there in no time"

Hinata smiled and climbed on then placed her arms around his neck.

"Alright, hold on" he said smirking then began to run as fast as he could with her on his back.

**AT THE KONOHA FESTIVAL-------------------------------------------------------------**

Jiraiya walked up to the entrance of his tunnel and sat down waiting for his friend to arrive with the destiny scroll. "He should be arriving some time soon now" Jiraiya said sitting with his arms crossed.

Suddenly, Anko and Gaara walked by Jiraiya. "Hey Jiraiya" said Anko carelessly who was slumped over in disappointment.

"Hey Anko, Gaara. So hows that bet going?" he asked in curiosity

"He's a tough one to crack but I give you my word that he will be smiling soon." Anko said with a smirk.

Gaara stood next to Anko still with an expressionless face and his arms still crossed, "It's wrong to promise something you cannot do" Gaara said closing his eyes. Anko frowned up in a goofy rage at Gaara.

Jiraiya sat laughing at the two.

"What are you doing here by yourself anyway?" asked Anko to Jiraiya. "Hey, you want to help me make moody here laugh" Anko said grinning.

Gaara snickered, "Hey, that was not part of the deal"

"No thats okay, I'm waiting on my friend, Hiroshi, to arrive. He should be here now. Its..." Jiraiya stopped as he checked his watch, "...9:56pm"

"I'm here my old friend" came a voice walking up.

Jiraiya snickered then smiled, "Hiroshi! your late. Thats not like you to be late for things" he said giving his old friend a hug.

"I'm sorry." Hiroshi apologized "Oh, and here is the destiny scroll. Its all fixed up for use now." he said handing over the destiny scroll to Jiraiya.

Jiraiya took the destiny scroll and smiled. "Great Job. Are you staying for the grand openning of the tunnel?" asked Jiraiya

"No I have to be getting back home now but there is one thing I want to see before leaving... Orochimaru's Haunted House..."

Jiraiya's eyes shot open "Why?"

"Just curious..." he said then started to chuckle alittle before walking away toward the haunted house.

Jiraiya looked on at his old friend thinking but quickly shrugged it off. He checked his watch again; it showing 9:58"

Jiraiya smiled as he walked up on the platform and grabbed a microphone. A rather large crowd began to form around the entrance. Seeing this, Jiraiya began the opening speech, "Alright people, It's finally time to open the famous Tunnel of Destined Love! I'm sure you've all heard of it!"

The crowd cheered outloud happily "YEAH!"

Jiraiya continued, "Well its time to get things started. This is how it works: First, form two lines; one line with just the boys and the other just the girls. Second, enter the entrance doors. Inside will be pitch black, you will not be able to see anything. Oh and just incase you think I havent heard you guys talking about it, there will be no attempts of talking to whoever is next to you before the ride is over. This specific jutsu Ive made prevents you from doing so until after your boat goes into the moonlight at the end. Oh and one last thing, this jutsu also prevents people who's 'destined one' that is not going on the ride from coming in. So if you are stopped then I am sorry. I cannot help that. So without further to do, lets begin!"

Everyone cheered happily and loudly as the people outside who were going to ride the tunnel begin to prepare themselves.

Jiraiya opened up the destiny scroll and began to do handseals. After the completion of the handseals, a blue forcefield-like wall appeared over the entrance doors. Jiraiya smiled as the destiny limiter began to work but then suddenly, a small purple aura shot from the scroll and into the air then disappeared. Jiraiya looked up "what was that?.. that seems odd..." he thought on for awhile but then shrugged it as just an addition Hiroshi had added to make it look cooler.

"Alright, now, all you have to do is step threw the forcefield. There are Jounins and chuunins inside to help you out from there. Have fun" he said last into the microphone then jumped off the platform.

Afterwards, all the people began to form a line to get into the entrance. Some people were allowed in and others were repelled by the Destiny Limiter barrier.

"Hey Sakura... You wouldnt mind if I dont get on..would you?" asked Sai "these types of attractions aren't my thing"

Sakura gave a smile to her fellow teammate "Sure. I'll see ya after the ride then" she said as she got in line then looked around at everyone. "Where is Naruto?" she asked in her mind.

Meanwhile, in a closer portion of the line, Shikamaru was being held by Temari. "Why dont you want to go on? Itll be fun" said Temari

"Ah, its too troublesome" Shikamaru answered.

"Dont be so lazy" Temari snapped as she smirked at him afterwards.

"I guess it cant be helped." Shikamaru said after a deep breath.

Suddenly, Naruto appeared with Hinata finally.

"See? I knew we would be here in time." he said smiling at Hinata. Hinata nodded and smiled as she got off of his back and stood behind him in line.

Sakura looked on trying to find Naruto and finally did after looking to the side of her. Wanting to talk to him, Sakura walked over to him and smiled. "..Naruto, where have you been?" she asked

Naruto turned and smiled back at Sakura "Oh, I kinda got lost on the way here" he said laughing then grinning.

Sakura smiled back at Naruto then grabbed his hand. Naruto looked down at this then looked back up at Sakura.

"Naruto... can I talk to you alone for a moment... Theres something I need to tell you." Sakura said sincerely while looking into his eyes.

Naruto nodded to the pink-haired kunoichi's request and walked over to a quiet place away from everyone in line.

"Naruto... I...I just wanted to say that... if by some chance we...end up together..." Sakura looked on at Naruto trying to find the words to finish what she was saying to him

Naruto returned the look as he continued to listen to Sakura.

"...if we are destined to be...that nothing would really change because...I..."

Naruto remained quiet still looking into her green eyes.

"...I...already love you" she said to him not knowing what to say next.

Naruto gave a smile as he looked down then looked at Sakura once more. "Sakura-chan... however this thing turns out...I'm glad you told me that. Thank you...Sakura-chan..." he said smiling then he walked close and gave her a hug.

Getting back in line, Naruto, Sakura and Hinata looked at the front of the line seeing Shikamaru and Temari both getting past the forcefield limiter. Next, they saw Tenten and Neji get through.

"Good. They all got through" said Naruto with a happy face.

"We're next" said Hinata as they got closer and closer.

Sakura gulped as she went to enter...she passed through the limiter. "Cha!" she said to herself.

Next was Hinata...she stepped forward...she passed through the limiter as well.

Lastly...Naruto gulped...then pressed on forward...stepping throught the limiter as well. "YES!" he shouted as they were all now in a dark room.

**IN A CHAMBER AT THE HAUNTED HOUSE OF OROCHIMARU------------------------------------------**

Hiroshi stood at an ancient-looking alter in the basement of the haunted house with a smile on his face. "Everything is falling into place..." he said with a grin. "Now, its only a matter of time..."

Suddenly, Sasuke appeared behind Hiroshi and walked up from behind him.

"Were you followed?" asked Hiroshi without turning around to face him.

"No." replied Sasuke as he gave Hiroshi a small package.

Hiroshi gave a evil chuckle, "Excellent."

"I have somewhere I need to be now..." said Sasuke as he sighed and disappeared..

**INSIDE THE ENTRANCE OF THE TUNNEL OF DESTINY----------------------------------------------------------------**

Inside, each individual was taken to a seperate cavern where they walked through another destiny barrier that place the destined ones together. After the destiny barrier paired everyone off, they were taken to the boat and seated. Naruto was seated in a boat as were all who entered.

"I can't see a thing!" said Naruto as he felt the boat starting to coast off into the water. The boat drifted on slowly as a scene of tranquility began to be visible. Naruto looked forward as the spot of moonlight began to come closer and closer. He began to sweat. "this is it..." he said as the tip of the boat coasted into the moonlight. "Almost there... " he thought then gulped in nervousness.

The boat slowly made its way into the light and Naruto looked over to the side; his eyes widening. The silence suddenly seemed loud as his lips curved up looking at the person in the eyes.

"N-Naruto-kun..." Hinata smiled as she looked over and saw Naruto sitting next to her.

"I knew it would turn out this way." he said smiling at Hinata as the boat docked.

Naruto rose to his feet and grabbed Hinata's hand softly; leading her onto the boardwalk and back to the festival to spend the rest of that happy night together.

Shortly after, Shikamaru emerged from thetunnel with Temari, andNeji walked out with a grinning Tenten hand in hand,

Still coasting in the tunnel, Sakura began to wonder who was next to her...her boat coasted into the moonlight revealing... nothing but an empty space. Sakura's eyes began to water as she did not see Naruto, or anyone for that matter. "I...I'm alone..." she said slowly as her boat docked to the boardwalk. With a sad expression, she lifted from the boat and onto the board crying silently when suddenly...

"Still annoying as ever I see..." came an all-to-familiar voice to Sakura. Sakura gasped as suddenly a shadowy figure was visible in the night.

"What?..." she asked with tears in her eyes. "could it be?..." the tears began to form thick and ran down her cheeks "Sasuke...is that you?"

The shadowy figure remained quiet then began to walk closer into plan view.

Sakura's eyes widened as she finally saw him. "Sasuke..."

"Sakura...I'm sorry for what I've put you through. But I need to gain more power if I wish to kill my brother and avenge my family..." Sasuke's statement was interupted as Sakura ran up to him and embraced him in a loving hug.

"Sasuke, don't leave. Stay with me. Forget about revenge. Forget about your brother...please... I love you...If you have to leave...please just...take me with you..." she said as her grip on him got tighter.

Sasuke stood looking down at the crying Sakura. "I am an avenger.I'm sorrySakura... I have to leave...I don't want you to get mixed up with Orochimaru..." he said backing away from her. Sakura couldnt find the word to convince him to stay; she stood motionless looking down as Sasuke began to walk away.

"...Sasuke..."Sakura whispered as she continued to cry alone in the night. After a couple of lonely minutes of crying, Sakura walked the lonely path thinking aboutSasuke. Her thinking suddenly came to a halt asa gustof wind blew by her. "stupid wind..." she thought as she shielded herself from the wind not knowing it was something more than just wind. The wind slowly began to die down andSakuraput her hands back down to her sides whenshe suddenly saw something that made her eyes shoot up in surprise.

A big fluffy brown teddy bear sat on the ground with a note attached. Sakura leaned down to pick it up and read the note which read:

Sakura, I promise I will return some day. Until then, I'll be thinking of you. -Sasuke

Sakura's tears began to dry as a happy expression crossed her face. She embraced the teddy bear in her arms lovingly as if it was Sasuke himself and continued down the path thinking of him and cherishing her gift from him.

It was almosts closing time for the festival now. Neji and Tenten walked holding hands as the last minute fireworks began to fire into the nightsky. Shikamaru and Temari ended their day with one last ride on the biggest roller coaster in the park. Ino, Sai,Kiba, Shino, Chouji, Lee and Kankuro all spent their time together playing against each other in the booth games; Unknowingly to theentrance guardsthat they all got in courtesy of Kankuro's fake dates. Kakashispent his time reading hisbook and relaxing on a newly built ferris wheel with Gai, who constantly challenged him to games once they got off the wheel. Asuma and Kurenai, who were actual dates, crashed against each other in a battle of Tsunade's famousbumper cars.Anko eventually lost the bet against Gaara. He did not laugh nor smile once since they got there...or so she thought. After being declared the winner of the bet, they seperated for a moment so Gaara could use the bathroom. Once inside, his face started to crack and crumble revealing a smiling Gaara underneath. Anko never found out that night that Gaara had used his sand to conceal his actual face. And finally, Naruto and a sleepingHinata spent the rest of their night cuddling on a cruise transport boat ride under the stars and fireworks.

Naruto looked behind himself and Hinata and saw Sakura smiling looking up into the sky at the fireworkswhile hugging a big teddy bear. He slowly got on his feet being surenot to wake Hinata and walkedto the back to talk to Sakura.

"Hey Sakura-chan...Cool bear! Did you win it?" Naruto asked her.

Sakura smiled andembraced the bear tightly, "No...it was given to me as a present" she said still smiling

"Who? oh and who did you end up withon that ride?" he asked her.

Sakura took a glance down at Naruto and smiled. "...someone veryspecial to me...I wish he was here" she said slowly thenlooking back up at the fireworks grinning happilynot wanting to tell Naruto that it was actuallySasuke.

Naruto returned that smile toSakura, "Well... wherever he is...I bet he wishes the same" he saidas he had a feelingshe was referring to Sasuke.

Later that night, after the closing of the park, Jiraiya was contacted by 4 Anbu members.

"Jiraiya-sama. We have some terrible news to tell you..." an Anbu said to Jiraiya.

Jiraiya gave a confused face, "Oh?"

Another Anbu member spoke up, "Its about your friend, Hiroshi. He was found dead not too long ago..."

Jiraiya's eyes shot open in suspense "What!"

One of the Anbu spoke up, "Upon performing an autopsy by the medical team, it has been speculated that he has been dead for more than 24 hours ago."

"That can't be... I just saw him today at around 10:00 before the openning of my tunnel..." Jiraiya said to the anbu team.

"...And Sir...thats not all. Upon finding his body... it has been noted that he...had no face..."

Jiraiya became suprised and horrified... "This is bad... if that is true... then the man I saw today was not Hiroshi. It was..."

**OROCHIMARU'S LAIR**------------------------

The man that looked like Hiroshi appeared infront of Kabuto and Sasuke with a evil smirk.

"What part did that sound 5 play? You brought them back just to kill them off again" asked Sasuke still alittle confused.

"I needed for Konoha to believe I didnt already possess the scroll. Thus, initiating an invasion for the sole purpose of those 5 looking for it. That alone madeTsunade and Jiraiyathink I didnt have it." he explained.

"I see." said Sasuke

Sasuke looked on at the back of Hiroshi, "What was the purple aura that came from the scroll after Jiraiya used the jutsu?" he asked blankly.

"hmm... That was the cursed aura of my own personal embedded and hidden jutsu that is released when the destiny jutsu is completed. That curse of mine was needed for my plans of this place. This haunted house of mine will bring forth the destruction of Konoha."

Sasuke folded his arms, "I see. So why was it so important that you secretly have Jiraiya do the jutsu? Why couldnt Kabuto or another one of your subordinates do it?"

Hiroshi laughed evily once more, "It will only activate successfully when that jutsu is done by a person of kage level such as him, or myself. Seeing as the Third took away my abilities to use my arms, I needed to trick Jiraiya into doing it for me without him knowing of my plan."

"I see. Did your cursed jutsu affect the Tunnel's abilities then?" Sasuke asked.

"Hmph. No and I didnt want it to. That tunnel and what It can do does not concern my plans. It will work as if I had never did anything. All I needed was the curse to be released, and it was" said Hiroshi.

Kabuto gave a smirk, "You are truly brilliant..."

"Now its only a matter of time before the destruction of Konoha..." said the man as he pilled off his face to reveal none other than Orochimaru.

* * *

And thats the final chapter. I hope you liked the ending. There is most likely going to be a sequel to this so make sure you keep an eye out for it. I actually had the ending a bit different than this but thanks to Sakura-Ninja's review , I decided to leave it like this so i could make a sequel later on. Thank you guys for reading. I had fun writing for you guys. Let me know who this turned out. Thanks again! 


	9. Sequel Update

Hey Everyone! I just wanted everyone to know that I am currently working on the sequel to "The Tunnel of Destined Love" now. Most likely, it wont have anything to do with Jiraiya's tunnel. It will mainly revolve around Orochimaru's Haunted house and it will mainly go in depth about Orochimaru's plan that was not explained at the end of the story. I will post it as a different story rather than continue on with the chapters of this one. This is just an update to let you guys know that I changed my mind and is just going to be adding the sequal chapters onto this story.

I am just going to add onto this story with the chapters of the sequel. I think it would be better that way. So chapter 10 will start the first page of the sequel.


	10. On Alert! Trouble Begins!

Tunnel of Destined Love 2

**CHAPTER 10 - ON ALERT! TROUBLES BEGIN**

"That was a pretty simple mission" said Naruto walking along the hallway to the Hokage office doors along with Team Kakashi including Yamato.

"Yeah, considering as we did all the work, Naruto" replied Sakura as she gave a smirk and taking off her black gloves.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah... It doesnt matter now." snickered Naruto as he turned his head and looked up as they finally entered the quarters of Hokage Tsunade.

Tsunade, who was eating dango, slowly rose her head and gave a welcoming smile to, the now entering, Team Kakashi. "Ah, Team Kakashi. How did the mission go?"

"Everything was fine. No problems." answered Kakashi as he looked his normal look after a mission. "Do you have anything else for us to take care off for today?"

Tsunade blinked then ruffled through some papers on her desk calmly. "Hmm... No, there is nothing else it seems."

Naruto gave a loud cheer "YES! thank goodness."

Everyone looked at Naruto suddenly afterwards, waiting for a answer to his sudden outburst. "What are you cheering for?" asked Sakura as everyone still looked at Naruto. Naruto gave a cheesing smile then settled his facial expressions to explain with a smile still set.

Before Naruto could start his explainations, Tsunade spoke up over him. "Wait. This is one thing I need to tell everyone about before we get into other matters."

Naruto looked over at Tsunade, as did the rest of Team Kakashi, waiting for what she had to inform them about. "Eh?" Naruto muttered in question.

Tsunade folded her arms and sat back into her chair, "Due to certain matters that I have heard from Jiraiya, I am going to ask you guys tell every shinobi to be on guard and to report to me of any weirdness that happens; no matter how small it is."

Kakashi and Yamato both raised an eyebrow in questioned confusion. Naruto, Sakura and Sai remained silent as they didnt fully understand the task of which Tsunade was asking them to do.

"What do you mean...weirdness?" asked Naruto.

"That is on a need-to-know basis, Naruto. Just inform everyone to watch out for anything. We are on alert as of now...-"

"-But, why? Atleast tell us something -" Naruto said interupting Tsunade's statement.

"That is not important!" yelled Tsunade as she interupted Naruto's interuption. Naruto, in retaliation, gave a small annoyed snicker as he looked away from Tsunade. Seeing this and being annoyed by it, Tsunade leaned over her desk and grabbed Naruto by the collar of his shirt, lifting him inches off the ground and looked at his face with a upset look as she growled back in frustration. Naruto continued to look off to the side, completely ignoring Tsunade's glare as he still had the annoyed look on his face.

"Alright you two. We dont want any trouble." Kakashi intervened with a playful grin as he rubbed the back of his head. Sakura and Sai remained silent while looking at Tsunade and Naruto's glares and stare-down. (At this point, Sakura and Sai would have an anime sweatdrop on them)

"Hmph..." Tsunade snickered as she let go of Naruto's collar and sat back into her chair blowing of steam of annoyance to calm down. "Anyway, that is all for today." Tsunade said to them.

Naruto smirked and walked out of the room along with Sakura and Sai.

Kakashi and Yamato both bowed to Tsunade in respect then began to leave as they approached the door. Suddenly, Shizune, holding a piece of paper, came rushing into the room before Kakashi and Yamato could leave.

"Tsunade-sama!" she said gasping for air from her running. "I just received this mission request...Its of dire importance" she said as she handed over the paper to Tsunade. Kakashi and Yamato both stopped and looked in curiousity at what was the problem.

Tsunade examined the paper. "This is clearly an S-rank mission." she said as her eyebrow twitched of what the mission was. She looked up from her desk at Kakashi and Yamato. "Kakashi... Yamato... I need one of you to take care of this." she said looking at the two.

"Hmm... I'll take care of it" said Kakashi as he walked up to Tsunade's desk.

"No, You have been busy lately with missions and training Naruto. I'll do it" interupted Yamato as he walked to Tsunade's desk and placed a hand on Kakashi's shoulder smiling.

"Normally, I would have Anko do these kind of missions but for some reason, she has been spending time in the sand village." said Tsunade as she wondered why.

Kakashi and Yamato looked at each other and chuckled as they knew the truth behind Anko's time in the sand village.

**MEANWHILE... At the Sand Village...**

"How many clothes can one person have!" yelled Anko as she handwashed Gaara's clothes and robes while sitting on the floor. .

"And don't forget these, too" said Gaara in his normal monotoned low voice as he walked up to her and dumped a basket full of Kankuro and Temari's clothes on Anko's head. "Be sure to do a good job, slave" he said with a hint of amusement as he walked off with the empty basket, leaving Anko under a pile of dirty clothes.

"GRRR! Stupid Kazekage..." Anko muttered and growled in a playful anger as she continued to handwash them.

"Well, anyway. Here..." Tsunade said giving Yamato the mission paper. Yamato nodded and took hold of the paper and left the room. Tsunade smiled then looked at Kakashi. "Kakashi, we have learned that Orochimaru may be up to something. Be on the alert for anything"

Kakashi placed his hands in his pocket "I know. Jiraiya has informed me to keep a very watchful eye out for Naruto in particular."

"Yes, there is reason to believe he may need Naruto for his evil plans. What he has planned is yet to be discovered but we believe it may have started when Jiraiya performed his destiny limiter jutsu." explained Tsunade.

Shizune gasped. "Do you think that is what that weird looking purple aura was that shot into the air after Jiraiya-sama finished the jutsu?"

"Yes. And, Jiraiya has also informed me that he was informed by the Anbu unit that the man to whom he sent the destiny scroll to prior to the opening of the tunnel was found dead. He also didnt have his face..." said Tsunade as she looked down thinking.

Kakashi looked down as well thinking, "No doubt the work of Orochimaru." he said to them.

Shizune nodded and Tsunade looked up. "Right. Jiraiya went searching to see if he can find more information about this. He told me that he has a hunch that Orochimaru is trying to gain enough strenght to perform his custom jutsu he made a long time ago that he called 'Taju Edo Tensei no Jutsu'" explained Tsunade.

"Summoning the dead." Kakashi said as he thought on. "Summoning Style: Mass Impure World Ressurection. If that is what he is attempting to do..."

"...then we are in trouble. He could very well bring on the destruction of Konoha with that" said Tsunade in deep thought.

"Yeah... the only thing about that plan, though... is that he needs a large amount of energy to execute it. Energy both cursed and strong. Stronger than the hokage or any of the sanin" replied Shizune.

"_He must have a plan to get that enormous energy if he has started his plans already... But from where can he get it?_" thought Tsunade.

On the Konoha paths, Naruto, Sakura and Sai walked and talked about what they were going to do.

"Oh, explain to me again... Why did you have a sudden outburst in Tsunade's office?" asked Sakura looking at Naruto.

Naruto looked up and grinned. "I am supposed to be meeting Hinata later." He said with a chuckled.

Sai remained silent and continued to read his book that he has been reading ever since the opening of the Konoha festival.

Sakura turned her gaze from Naruto and looked down as she began to remember what happened that night of the tunnel... How she saw Sasuke... and what he told her.

Suddenly, a yell toward Team Kakashi was heard, "Hey! Sakura. Sai, Naruto... Over here!"

Team Kakashi looked to where the yell came from and saw that it was Ino along with Shikamaru and Chouji. They were standing infront of Ino's family flower shop talking.

"Hey Ino" said Sakura with a smile as they approached. Ino gave a smile in return to Sakura.

Naruto walked up to Shikamaru "Hey there, Shikamaru!" said Naruto. Shikamaru rubbed the back of his head and sighed in tiredness. "Ah, hey Naruto"

Sai, holding his book and his grin, walked up to Chouji.

"Hello Sai" said Chouji with a friendly smile. Suddenly, Naruto and Sakura's eye twitched as they began to assume what Sai was going to say to Chouji.

Sai gave his usual smile, "Hey Fat As-" But before he could call Chouji Fat Ass, Naruto quickly covered Sai's mouth and chuckled nervously. Chouji continued to smile as he didnt know what Sai was going to say.

Naruto took Sai and walked over from the rest of them. "Did you forget? That is taboo." Naruto reminded Sai.

"Oh, Sorry. It must have slipped my mind. I will remember from now on" he assured Naruto. Naruto gave a smile and a sigh of relief at Sai's statement.

Sai began to think. "Okay, So It is very important that I remember... to avoid harsh consequences, i must say the opposite of what I am thinking..."

Naruto and Sai, shortly after, joined back with the rest in a general conversation.

**_That is Chapter 10, the first chapter of the sequel. I will write the next chapter soon. I hope you like it. It wasnt as long as my usuals. Please leave reviews. I love to read you guy's response to this. Thanks!_**


	11. Unknown Truths

Tunnel of Destined Love 2

**CHAPTER 11 - UNKNOWN TRUTHS**

"So, where are you guys off to?" asked Ino with a hand on her hip, looking at Sakura then Naruto and Sai.

"Well, we were in the process of deciding on what to do when we ran into you guys" replied Sakura. "What are you doing? Working at your family shop?"

"Its troublesome." said Shikamaru with a yawn.

"We are just having a team talk." said Chouji with a smile.

The conversation between Team Kakashi and Team Asuma continued on for minutes infront of the Yamanaka Flower Shop.

"Oh yeah, Shikamaru... How's it going with Temari?" asked Naruto.

"Its good I suppose." Shikamaru said as he rubbed the back of his head. "she is back at the sand village for a couple hours... something about seeing Gaara boss someone around being too hilarious to pass up..."

**MEANWHILE, AT THE SAND VILLAGE**

"Gaara?... Where is the food at? Im hungry" exclaimed Kankuro as he sat at the dinner table with Gaara and Temari.

Gaara, sitting down with his arms folded, unfolded his arms and clapped his hands twice quickly as if he were calling a maid. Suddenly, Anko, dressed in proper maid attire of the sand village, came walking in holding a dinner platter with one hand that held three plates.

"Here!..uh I mean 'Dinner is served'" said Anko annoyed and disruptly as she placed the plates infront of the sand siblings.

Gaara cleared his voice as if to signal for Anko to behave and act more proper, which made Anko growl in annoyance more as she forced herself to stand up, place one hand behind her back and set the table in a graceful fashion for Gaara, Kankuro and Temari. "Good slave, you may leave for now" said Gaara in his normal low slow voice as he clapped twice again to signal for Anko to leave them. Anko gave a fake smile to him then turned to leave; all the while muttering under her breath 'Stupid Kazekage'

"So, Naruto... How is the relationship with Hinata going?" asked Chouji.

"Its great. Matter of fact..." Naruto looked down at his watch "Im suppose to meet her at the Konoha Mall." he said as he looked up from it and back at Chouji.

"Thats great that you and Shikamaru found who your destined for. I didnt have the nerve to go on the tunnel ride. It probably would have not let me in anyway." said Chouji looking down in slight sadness.

"Ah, Chouji. Any girl would be happy to go out with you. You just havent shown your loving side to them." stated Shikamaru.

"Yes. You are a good size and a good looking guy" said Sai, taking a second from reading his emotion-showing book to comment.

Chouji began to cheer up as he believe the words of Shikamaru and Sai... not knowing that Sai only says the opposite of what he truly means to avoid dire consequences.

"Well I gotta' go you guys. I'll see ya later." Naruto said walking off to the Konoha mall and waving back at them.

"Well I think I am going to go home now. My dad wants to spend some quality family time. I just think he doesnt want to be alone with mother" said Shikamaru. "See ya" he said walking off as well.

Sai spoke up afterwards "I am leaving as well. I have alot of studying to do" he said as he began to walk in the direction of the Konoha library.

"Bye Sai!" exclaimed Ino as she blushed and waved at Sai leaving. Ino, after waving to Sai, looked back at Sakura.

"Since everyone is leaving, I guess I'll get Asuma-sensei to buy me some all-you-can-eat barbeque. YAY! Yummy Barbeque!" exclaimed chouji as he left the scene as well.

Sakura smiled at Chouji then looked back at Ino.

"Hey Sakura, dont you think Sai sorta looks like Sasuke alittle?" asked Ino

"Well... he sorta does... in a way I guess... why?" asked Sakura

"I dont know... Just asking. He is so handsome too."

"Why didnt you go on the tunnel ride with him to see if you two were destined to be together then?" asked Sakura.

"I dont know. Didnt' give it much thought. Did you go on it?" asked Ino as she placed her other hand on her opposing hip.

"Yeah and guess who I ended up with?... SASUKE!" yelled Sakura as she grinned at Ino then did a small girlish shriek. "All those times you fight with me over him were in vain as he was destined for me! hehehe" gloated Sakura as she recalled those times Ino made her so mad when she said that Sasuke was going to be with her instead of someone with such a big forehead.

"Hmph. Yeah right.Your just lying! Theres no way Sasuke would be destined for you!" shouted Ino in anger.

"The truth hurts, Ino-Pig! I win Sasuke's heart. In the end, true love wins" said Sakura as she thought of Sasuke. "At first I thought that I was destined to be alone as at first I didnt see anyone beside me...But then, on the boardwalk... he appeared... In the moonlight.

Ino's eyebrow twitched alittle hearing what Sakura just said, "Wait... he wasnt sitting next to you?"

"No... " said Sakura.

"Well... Jiraiya had said that the person that will be sitting next to you on the ride will be your destined person... right?" asked Ino in curiousity.

"... Yeah...he did say that..." Sakura said as her grin started to die down slowly.

"If he wasnt sitting next to you... then its possible that... you and Sasuke-kun arent going to be destined to be together!" exclaimed Ino as she began to think she still had a chance to win Sasuke's heart.

"...That...cant...be right..." Sakura said slowly as a tear began to build up in her left eye. Sakura then looked up at Ino with determination. "I have to find out... I have to find Jiraiya. He'll know..." she said as she turned her back on Ino and began to walk while thinking if what Ino said was right.

"Wait! Sakura?" Ino called out to her friend and rival but Sakura was already gone. "..." Ino looked down as well as she had made Sakura somewhat distrot. She sighed slowly and walked into her family's flower shop.

Naruto continued to run down the path leading to the Konoha Mall. "Darn it! Im late. I hope she doesnt leave." he said to himself as he continued to run as fast as he could to get there in time to meet Hinata.

"Yo! Naruto!" called out a voice to Naruto as he ran passed the person.

"Eh?" Naruto quickly stopped his footwork and looked behind him to see none other than Jiraiya leaning up against a building with his arms folded.

"Ero-Senin?" Naruto replied as he walked over to Jiraiya. "What do you want? I wont loan you any more money. I gotta' meet Hinata at the mall..-"

Naruto's statement was interupted as Jiraiya suddenly, without word, tossed Naruto a small sack of money. "There, Naruto. That is the money I owe you plus some more. Buy her something nice" said Jiraiya with a smirk.

Naruto looked down at the sack of money then back up at Jiraiya in confusion. "...eh?..."

"Just take it Naruto. Have a good time with Hinata. I'll see ya later." Jiraiya said to him then walked away with his smile fading slowly.

Naruto just looked on at the back of Jiraiya in confusion. "This is Great! now I have money to buy Hinata stuff! Something must be wrong with Ero-Sanin today...he never pays me back... oh well...To the Mall!" he grinned and continued to run to the mall.

Jiraiya walked thinking about what he has discovered. "_Naruto... Orochimaru is up to something big... and he has you in his sights_..." he thought to himself. Suddenly, a voice called out to him

"Jiraiya!..." It was Sakura. She ran infront of him and stopped abruptly as if something was troubling her. "Jiraiya, I need to ask you something... About your tunnel... The destiny tunnel..."

Jiraiya looked on at Sakura with his norm face. "Oh?..."

Sakura lowered her stare from Jiraiya's face to the ground. "...If...at the end of the tunnel...if you happen to end up sitting next to...no one...what does that mean?"

Jiraiya's eyebrow twitched slightly as he looked on at Sakura.

Naruto finally got to the Konoha Mall and ran inside. "Where is she? Im late. I hope she didnt leave already" he said as he looked around.

"Naruto-kun!" shouted a familiar voice from a close distance.

Naruto turned his head and smiled as he saw the long haired Hinata waving at him and smiling. He walked up to her and gave her a welcome hug. "Hey Hinata. I was beginning to think you had left already" Naruto said with a chuckle as he rubbed the back of his head.

"I k-knew you'd come. I was j-just looking at some clothes" she said with a slight stutter as she is getting better at her speech around Naruto.

"Oh hey. Ero-Sanin just shockingly paid me back. Lets go buy some things for you" said Naruto as he grabbed her hand; causing her to blush.

"You dont h-have to do that for me.." she said with her blush still intact.

"I want to. You're worth it." Naruto said with a warm smile directed at Hinata; causing her blush to deepen.

Naruto and Hinata spent the whole time shopping hand-in-hand. They visited mostly every store from clothes to technology and even to weaponry. They were having fun together. They even spent a half hour playing games in the arcade room of the mall. It wasnt so much the clothes that made Hinata happy, but the time that they spent together that enriched the moments. Before they knew it, it was dark outside and Naruto had bought Hinata over 10 outfits, 20 packs of kunais and shuriken, and some jewelery. Hinata couldnt stop smiling as she became confortable being around Naruto; even to the point that she grabbed Naruto's free arm and held it close to her and in the process, laying her head gently upon his shoulders. Naruto's smile grew more and more merry as he could clearly see Hinata was having the time of her life with him.

Meanwhile, Sakura stood atop her roof looking on at the full moon in dismay. She began to recall what Jiraiya had told her about her question and leaned back thinking. She turned her gaze to the stary night and let out a sigh as she closed her eyes. "...Destiny..." she muttered to herself slowly as she slowly began to recall the moment that night with her and Sasuke. She slowly rose to her feet and jumped into her room from her opened window. She glanced down at her watch which showed the time being 10:47pm. She sat on her bed thinking then reached for and hugged her teddy bear, which she named 'Destiny' for obvious reasons, given to her by Sasuke. She continued to sit on her bed and hugged Destiny tighter then glanced down at her watch once more, in which it showed the time now being 10:50.

"_Its almost 11:00pm_... " she thought to herself. She glanced out of her window at the moon in a wonderous gaze as if she was waiting for someone to show...

Back at the Konoha Mall, Naruto and Hinata continued to walk; Hinata still clinging onto Naruto's arm tightly in love. Naruto lead Hinata to any place she wanted to go. The walked and walked but the fatigue of walking so much seem to not effect them. It was as if them being together made them immuned to their aches.

"Hey look Hinata! A Mall Merry-Go-Round!" said Naruto to Hinata as he pointed to the Merry-go-round. It looked so eligant. It was lit up with white lights all around that glowed the surrounding area softly and calmly. The horses where all valient-looking and everything about it looked so wonderful. Hinata's eyes lit up with amazement.

"Wanna' go on it?" Asked Naruto.

"Sure." answered Hinata.

Naruto lead Hinata to the Merry-Go-Round and walked through the entrance to get in.

"Hey! Look its Neji and Tenten!" said Naruto to Hinata.

Getting on a tall white horse was Neji Hyuuga and Tenten. Neji first helped Tenten onto the horse.

"Thank you" Tenten said to Neji as she finally got settled on the stallion.

Neji gave a nod and a smile as he looked up at Tenten in the beautiful setting of the Merry-Go-Round. He then turned his head and looked for a horse to get on himself when suddenly, Tenten tapped behind her on the horse, signaling Neji to get on the same horse as her. Neji gave a smile and a slight blush grew upon his face as he climbed on the same horse as Tenten and sat behind her closely. Tenten blushed, feeling Neji place his hands on her hips to hold on; in return, she gently placed her hands on top of his and ran her fingers between his. Blushing more than ever, Tenten leaned back slightly and rested her back upon Neji's chest.

Hinata sighed in awe as she had never seen her cousin look so relaxed... so carefree... so happy... so in love...

Naruto looked on at Neji and Tenten as well and smiled for them. Hinata, finally turning away from Neji and Tenten, took Naruto by the hand and lead slowly to a chariot seat. Naruto sat down in the chariot that was attached to two beautiful horses. Hinata sat down next to Naruto and gently cuddled up next to him lovingly. She leaned her head toward his shoulders and rested it upon it. Forgetting about her shyness, she wrapped her arms around him and embraced him as the ride was about to begin. Naruto slowly took his arm and swung it around Hinata's shoulders; afterwards, leaning his head down up hers, making their hair ruffle playfully. Before they knew it the ride. Tenten began began to feel as if Neji was her knight in shining armor that just rescued her from a dragon and is now taking her away from all her worries. Hinata, in the arms of Naruto, closed her eyes and felt as if she was no longer on a mall's merry-go-round, but was on a romantic night carriage ride that would lead her and her love to the moon and the stars.

Meanwhile, At Orochimaru's stronghold, Sasuke was just entering into the chamber doors. Kabuto confronted Sasuke...

"Where have you been?" asked Kabuto.

"I dont have to tell you. Now begone" said Sasuke evily as he walked past Kabuto and into the snake statue chamber. He walked up to the snake statue and sat down facing the door.

Kabuto walked in behind Sasuke slowly and stopped infront of him. He slowly fixed his glasses then looked at his watch which showed the time being 11:30pm. "Youve been gone for 30 minutes... You have been leaving here at around 11:00 exactly, everyday. Where are you going?" asked Kabuto as he fixed his glasses once more.

Sasuke remained silent, not bothering to answer Kabuto's question. "Where is Orochimaru?"

"He is preparing at the stronghold... You know, Sasuke-kun... Orochimaru is going to need you in his plans... your cursed form level 2 that is." said Kabuto walking away from Sasuke some.

"He already told me" said Sasuke darkly. "He told me that I will need to get him the power. He needs my cursed chakra"

"No.. That is not what he is going to use you for. He has already found a power source. You, will not be needed for that..." Kabuto said folding his arms.

Sasuke remained quiet as he was wrong about what Orochimaru had planned for Sasuke.

"What is he going to use for the power source and how is he going to get it?" asked Sasuke still sounding a bit evil.

Kabuto chuckled. "Like Orochimaru-sama said... You are going to get him the power source... and that power source... is the Kyuubi"

**DUN DUN DUUUUNNN Lol now that is a good way to end the chapter huh? Lol well that is chapter 11 (really its chapter 2 for this sequel) I hope you like it! please review and thanks to those who have! I appreciate it! Chapter 3 (Chapter 12) coming soon. **


	12. Neji Vs Lee

Tunnel of Destined Love 2

**CHAPTER 12 - NEJI VS. LEE**

"That was great" said Hinata as she and Naruto walked off the merry-go-round.

"Yeah, it was" Naruto replied with a grin.

Naruto and Hinata continued to walk together as they held each others hand. Hinata gave a slight blush from the holding of hands but nonetheless, she enjoyed it even more than her face turned red. Naruto suddenly turned to his watch and noticed the time.

"Whoa! Its late. I didnt even realize that it was even dark outside!" exclaimed Naruto.

Hinata giggled at Naruto's discovery of the time and placed her open hand upon Naruto's hand when suddenly she saw something in a store's display case that caught her interest. "Thats beautiful..." she said in awe.

Naruto glanced over at what Hinata was looking at and went into awe as well. What showed in the jewelery display case was a golden chain necklace with a heart-shape charm locket hanging on it. "Wow, that looks so cool" said Naruto as he began to think. "_That would be the perfect gift for Hinata... I wonder if I still have enough money to get it_." Naruto quickly ducked his free hand down into his pants pocket and pulled out his frog purse on the side without letting Hinata know he was checking his wallet. He quickly opened it, still without revealing what he was doing, and counted what was left of his financial payback from Jiraiya. "_Darn... I dont have enough_..." He thought to himself.

Hinata approached the display case, letting go of Naruto's hand in the process, and examed the necklace further. Naruto walked slowly up behind Hinata and looked as well.

Hinata and Naruto gazed at the elegant necklace without words. Suddenly, feeling Naruto's presence close to her, she turned away from the display case and back to Naruto; although, he kept his stare on the locket and continued to wonder how he could get it for Hinata.

"N-Naruto-kun?" said Hinata softly to get his attention.

"Huh? Oh... Im sorry" Naruto said as his attention from the locket broke and was directed back to Hinata. "I was just thinking, thats all. I suppose its getting late. Maybe we should leave" Naruto suggested. "everything is starting to close"

"Yeah" Hinata softly agreed and slowly grabbed Naruto's hand once more.

As Naruto walked with Hinata, his mind was still pondering on how great it would have been to get Hinata that necklace. They continued to walk on until they finally reached the entrance doors and walked out still holding hands; all the while, Hinata snuggled against Naruto lovingly as her symbolic way of telling Naruto it was alright and that just being with him finally was better than any necklace.

Walking along the path that leads to Hinata's house, Naruto looked downward at the ground. Without even having to think about it, Hinata could easily tell what was on his mind; he was sad that he couldn't get that necklace for her.

"N-Naruto-kun... Its okay..." Hinata said softly as her hair shined in the moonlight. "I-I didn't want that necklace anyway... I just like spending t-time with y-you" she said to him shyly and began to blush.

"Hinata... thanks" Naruto said happily as he wanted to believe what she was saying... but deep inside, he knew she was only saying that to make him feel better.

Hinata and Naruto continued walking down the path until they eventually ended at Hinata's front door. Once in front of her house door, she turned to face Naruto; all the while, feeling shy and looking downward to the ground. "W-well... goodnight Naruto-kun..." she said shyly.

Naruto gazed at Hinata and smiled softly "Goodnight... Hinata..."

Hinata looked up from the ground slowly and looked at Naruto's face. He was smiling but something wasnt right, he seemed to be sad at the same time. Hinata looked into his eyes and gave a smile and without even realizing what she was doing, she leaned over and kissed Naruto his cheek. Naruto's eyes lit up as if he was seeing fireworks for a moment. Hinata, after finally realizing what she had done, backed away from Naruto. She was extremely blushing now. Naruto, still alittle shocked, grinned and smiled as he placed his right hand over the kissed cheek; and with that, Hinata went inside her house but not before looking at Naruto one last time before the door completely. Naruto smiled with his hand still on his cheek. He then walked off from Hinata's house and begin the journey to his house.

Hinata was still facing the door shortly after closing it. She glanced down with over expressed and shocked eyes; all the while, thinking about the kiss she just gave Naruto. After a moment of thinking of it, she slowly turned around and was surprised again as she looked on at who was standing right behind her the whole time. Neji, Hiashi and Hinabi stood looking on at Hinata with a smirk.

"Hinata has a boyfriend!" shouted Hinabi as she ran up to Hinata and smiled big for her sister.

"W-what?..." Hinata said nervously.

"Don't bother to deny it. I already told them everything." said Neji with a smirk. "I saw you at the mall with Naruto on the merry-go-round..."

"Hinata, why haven't you told me of your boyfriend? How long have you been seeing the Uzumaki kid?" asked Hiashi sternly. He looked on at his eldest daughter with a disappointing face.

"B-but... I." Hinata stammered to explain as she had a feeling that Hiashi wasnt going to accept her dating Naruto. "But I...I-I mean...you see...I-" but before she could finish saying what she was trying to say, Hiashi shook his head in a negative manner.

"She's been with him for awhile now" said Hinabi with a smile. Neji nodded his head up and down agreeing with his youngest cousin.

Suddenly, Hiashi snickered, folding his arms and turned his back on Hinata; making her look at the ground in sadness. Hiashi began to walk away without a word.

Suddenly... he stopped. "You've had a boyfriend all this time... and I havent met him?"

Hinata raised her head in suprise at what her father was saying; Neji and Hinabi continued to smile. "W-what?"

"Invite him over for dinner. I cant have my daughter going out with someone I've never properly met before" he said then slightly turned his head to Hinata revealing a slight smile. Hinata's sadness melted away seeing her father smile.

"Right" she said happy once again. Neji and Hinabi continued to smile.

Finally reaching his house, Naruto walked in and closed the door. He slowly turned around...

"WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN!" shouted Jiraiya.

"Eh...Ero-Senin? How do you keep getting in my house!" shouted Naruto.

"Nevermind that for now. Naruto, I have found out some info about Orochimaru's plans and they have to do with you." said Jiraiya as he calmed down some.

"You told me that already, Ero-Senin. Your memory is slipping fast" Naruto said jokingly.

"Listen up Naruto. I received information from a reliable source that Orochimaru plans on using some jutsu ritual in attempts to destroy Konoha. My source, the person I got this info from, tells me that Orochimaru is going to perform the ritual within the last chamber of his 'haunted house' inside the Konoha Park. He also told me that-" But before Jiraiya could go on, Naruto butted in.

"- Wait...who is this person that is telling you this? Some sort of spy?" asked Naruto in confusion.

"Uh... Something like that but...That doesnt matter!" shouted Jiraiya as he was trying to hide it. "Just be on the look out for anything strange as Tsunade said. I have a feeling that Orochimaru is going to do something to get you" he warned Naruto.

"I will... But first...why arent you telling me who you have telling you this? Is he some sort of secret agent?" Naruto asked.

"I cant tell you for certain reasons" Jiraiya said then looked as if he was remembering something.

"Tell me!... Who is this spy?" shouted Naruto.

"Maybe later... I have to go now. Remember to be careful, Naruto" said the pervert hermit as he walked out of Naruto's apartment and closed the door behind him; leaving Naruto confused.

Shaking his head, Naruto continued onward upstairs to his room where he changed into his pajama clothes and got in bed. He, soon enough, forgot about thinking on who Jiraiya's information-giving spy was and began to think about who Hinata would look with the necklace she wanted on.

The next morning, Naruto arisen from his bed and checked the time; it was 10:43am. Naruto jumped out of bed and quickly went into his closet and changed into his black and orange shinobi attire. "Time to see whats going on today" said Naruto as he did a quick stretch and went out the door to see if anything interesting was going on in the streets of Konoha. Once out of his door, he walked onto the empty paths of the village and looked around. "Where is everyone?" he said to himself.

The streets of Konoha were totally void of people. "...this is strange... no one's here..." he said to himself still looking around. "I KNOW! maybe granny Tsunade will know" and with that, Naruto raced off toward the hokage building.

"Yes all! As we all know, Valentines day is tommorow and to celebrate this occasion, we are having Konoha's first ever Valentine's Day Festival!" shouted Tsunade from her balcony to all the village people below.

Naruto finally made it to the hokage building and looked on at amazement at what he saw; everyone in the village was gathered infront of Tsunade for a Hokage announcement.

"So this is where everyone is... " Naruto said to himself as he approached the village crowd and started to walk among the huge crowd of people and suddenly saw a familiar face; not bothering to even listen to what was going on or what Tsunade was saying.

"Hey Sai!" shouted Naruto, squeezing and passing through the people as best he could.

Sai, holding his drawing book, turned his attention from Tsunade and looked over to see Naruto walking up to him from his side. "Hello, Naruto."

"Uhh... Whats going on? Granny Tsunade making another announcement about something unnecessary?" asked Naruto as he still looked at Sai.

"Yes, Miss Tsunade has issued a public announcement this morning. I guess you didnt get the message" said Sai with his normal smile.

"I just woke up. I didnt know. Well...anyway, whats the announcement about" asked Naruto as Tsunade kept on talking out to the huge crowd.

"Miss Tsunade is telling us about having a Valentines Day Festival tommorow since it is going to be Valentines day tommorow." Explained Sai.

"Oh. " said Naruto.

Tsunade continued. "As tradition for this holiday would have it; It will be mandatory for you to get your admirer a Valentines day gift." said Tsunade to the crowd. "That is all." Tsunade said to the ground and walked back into her office. The crowd of all the villagers began to disperse in their own direction and back to their daily workplaces and areas. Naruto stayed with Sai as they began to walk the path of Konoha talking.

"This festival is going to be so cool." said Naruto with a grin. "So, I have to get Hinata a gift... what to get her..." said Naruto outloud to himself.

"You will think of something" said Sai as he continued to smile his same smile.

"Oh yeah... Have you seen Sakura-chan anywhere?" asked Naruto still walking with Sai.

"No, I havent. I havent seen her since our return from the mission a day ago" replied Sai.

"Lets look for her. She should be around here somewhere" said Naruto. Sai nodded. "You go that way and see if you see her and I'll go this way"

"Okay." Sai agreed.

And with that, Naruto and Sai split up in search of their kuniochi teammate. In his first looking spot, Naruto went to the park and looked around. "Hmm... she's not here" he said to himself.

Sai, thinking of a place he saw Sakura at alot of times, went into the Yamanaka Flower Shop in search of Sakura. Sai entered slowly and looked around. "Shes not here" he said to himself when suddenly...

"Hey! Sai!" shouted a familiar female voice. Sai turned around and looked to see who was calling him.

"Oh, Hey there, Miss. Lovely" Sai said with his same smile as always.

Hearing this made Ino blush but nonetheless, she approached him. "You can just call me Ino" She said to Sai.

"Okay, Ino" Sai said then began to look around then went back up to Ino. "Oh, Naruto and I are looking for Sakura, have she been here?" he asked Ino.

"She hasnt been here since we all talked the other day." Ino replied.

"I see." responded Sai as he then turned his head to some of the beautiful flower arrangements on display. "These flowers are really nice and lovely. I would like to draw them when I have the time." said Sai walking closer to the flowers he liked.

Ino walked behind him and smiled. "You draw?" she asked him then saw the book he was holding. "whats that you're holding?"

"This?" Sai responed by holding up his drawing book. "This is my drawing book. I like to draw" he said to her, never letting down his usual smile.

"Can I see?" asked Ino.

"Yeah, sure" he said as he handed over his drawing book to Ino. Ino began to go from page to page looking at Sai's precise drawings.

"These are wonderful" she said amazed.

Suddenly a voice yelled out from outside. "SAI!" yelled Naruto.

"Oh! I have to go." he said quickly to Ino and ran out of the Flower Shop; forgetting about his book.

"Wait! You left your art book..." Ino called after him, but he was already gone.

Outside, Sai ran up to Naruto. "Well, was she in there? Has Ino seen her?" asked Naruto.

"No. She has not seen Sakura either." responded Sai.

"Geez! Where is she?" exclaimed Naruto as he placed a hand on his head and looked up in thought.

"Maybe she will turn up some place if we just keep walking" suggested Sai.

"Yeah, your probably right" said Naruto as they began to walk again.

After a couple minutes of quiet walking, Naruto and Sai came up upon Gai and Tenten in the forest.

"Hey! Maybe they have seen her" suggested Naruto looking at Gai and Tenten.

Naruto and Sai both walked up to the two and looked at them. Gai and Tenten were standing and watching Neji and Rock Lee spar. The fight was amazing. Neji and Lee exchanged blow for blow. Both dodging and both making some hits connect.

"GO LEE! USE THE POWER OF YOUTH!" shouted Gai as he watched Lee keep up with Neji.

"GO Neji!" shouted Tenten.

"KONOHA SENPU!" Shouted Lee as he performed the Taijutsu on Neji. Thinking fast, Neji blocked the kicks and performed his newest attack...

"EIGHT TRIGRAMS, EMPTY PALM!" shouted Neji as he thrusted his right arm at Rock Lee, sending a gust of chakra at him and knocking him away. Recovering fast, Rock Lee bounced off from a tree with his feet to another tree, then to another until he was in Neji's blind spot, then he prepared his attack. "DYNAMIC ENTRY!" shouted Rock Lee as he connected the kick taijutsu to Neji sending the Hyuuga flying. Neji quickly, before he could hit the ground, flipped to his feet and got into the Gentle fist stance. Seeing this, Rock Lee responded by getting into his normal Taijutsu stance. "Hmph...Lets see you handle this" said Neji with a smirk to his friend and rival. "Bring it on" said Lee returning the friendly competition attitude. Suddenly Neji began to spin clockwise at a rapid rate. "EIGHT TRIGRAMS, PALM ROTATION! (Hakkesho Kaiten)"

The whirlwind of chakra began to increase in width and grew closer to a seemingly prepared Lee. "That is a nice move but I will overcome it" said Lee as he began to unwrap his bandages on his arm then cross his arms infront of his face. "The first gate...INITIAL GATE! UNLOCK!" shouted Rock Lee as he started to run at super high speeds around Neji's Palm rotation technique, counterclockwise.

"What is he doing?" asked Tenten. "Circling the palm rotation isnt going to help him"

"I see." said Gai with a smirk. "Lee is very smart, Tenten. A genius, even. Look closely at what he is doing"

Naruto and Sai stood watching the fight in silence. Tenten looked on then finally realized what Lee was up to. "He's circling Neji's attack but in a different direction! But that will..."

Gai went on to explain. "Yes Tenten, When two forces move in different directions like that, It cause one of the forces to stop. It all has to do with the laws of physics. The force moving at the lowest speed will be made to stop by the higher counterclockwise motioned force... In this case..."

Suddenly, Neji's Heavenly spin technique began to slow down and eventually came to a stop. "Yes. Now it is time for my technique!" shouted Rock Lee as he still circled Neji. Neji only looked on as a fast blur circled him. "BYAKUGAN!" shouted Neji as he activated his eye technique.

"NOW!" Rock Lee shouted as he suddenly appeared infront of Neji and kicked him up; sending him airborne. Rock Lee then disappeared once more and reappeared behind Neji. "Now Neji! It is time" Rock Lee said with a smirk as suddenly his bandages began to surround and encase Neji. "Take this! OMOTE RENGE! (Initial Lotus)" Just then, Neji and Rock Lee began to go spiraling at a fast rate towards the ground. "Nice try, Lee" said Neji with a smirk as they were getting closer to hitting the ground. Suddenly, Neji began to concentrate and made his chakra emerge from his body as if he was about to do the Heavenly spin again.

"Very smart, Neji" said Gai.

"Why? whats so smart about what he is doing" asked Naruto

"You'll see" said Tenten with a smirk still looking up at the two coming toward the ground.

"EIGHT TRIGRAMS LARGE PALM ROTATION! (Hakkesho Kaiten)" Shouted Neji. Suddenly, without Naruto and Sai knowing what just happened, Rock Lee was sent flying horizontally into a tree and fell to the ground. Neji continued falling down straight into the ground and hit it hard as did Lee.

"Eh?... what just happened?" asked Naruto as he watched both Neji and Rock try to get to their feet but struggled.

Gai went into explaination. "You see, Lee had Neji trapped in his Omote Renge(Initial Lotus) and was spiraling fast toward the ground. Neji quickly output his chakra from his body as he would do for a heavenly spin attack. Seeing as they were both already spinning so fast from the Initial Lotus, Neji didnt have to spin his body to create the dome of chakra. In turn, the chakra hit Lee and tore the bandages that were around Neji, sending Lee off and hitting the tree. Although Neji got loose from the Initial Lotus, he had no time to recover from the speed at which he was spiraling toward the ground, so he it the ground just as bad as Lee did.

Neji and Lee both stood up once again.

"Thats enough for today you guys, Nice work" said Gai with his nice guy pose and a thumbs up. "And as a reward for such a great fight, we'll go out to eat as a team."

Rock Lee and Neji relaxed and smiled at each other. Gai turned to Naruto and Sai. "Hey, you guys are welcome to join us..."

"No thats okay" replied Naruto as Sai stayed silent. "We wanted to know if you have seen Sakura anywhere"

Tenten spoke up. "Oh, Yeah I just saw her headed towards the mall. I think she might be going to shop for her Valentine's day Festival gift."

"Great. Thank You, Tenten." Naruto said and he and Sai went off to the mall in search of Sakura.

**Thats chapter 12. It was somewhat of a "filler chapter" Sorry for it being so long lol. I just got into it and couldnt stop. Well anyway, please review. I'd like to know what you guys think of this chapter and the story so far. Thanx. Next chapter coming soon. **


	13. Taking Chances

TUNNEL OF DESTINED LOVE 2

CHAPTER 13 - TAKING CHANCES

"She has to be here. Its the only place we havent looked" said Naruto as he and Sai walked into the Konohagakure department store. Naruto looked to the left and Sai looked to the right in search of Sakura but still didnt see her.

"I guess Tenten was wrong" said Naruto as he rubbed the back of his head and briskly swiped his hair back and forth.

"Well, she did say that she was coming here to buy a present for the Valentine's day festival. Maybe she is in a part that sells things that she likes to get for people." suggested Sai looking at Naruto.

"Hmm..." Naruto hummed and thought as he placed his right hand up to his chin and looked down thinking when he suddenly remembered something... "THE NECKLACE!" shouted Naruto as he slammed his fist down on his other palm finally coming up with a good guess of where she might be.

"Necklace?" asked Sai.

"Yeah! I remember how Hinata said she loved it! Maybe Sakura-chan is looking at it as well. Come on!" Naruto answered then ran off with Sai in the direction of the Jewelry department.

"THERE SHE IS!" shouted Naruto, pointing at Sakura who was holding a small jewelry box. "SAKURA-CHAN!" he shouted out to her.

Sakura turned her gaze, from the box she was holding, to Naruto and Sai who just stopped running and stood infront of her. "Oh hey Naruto, Sai. Whats wrong?" she asked them.

"We've been looking for you." replied Sai.

"You have? Why?" asked Sakura

"Well, Sakura-chan, we havent seen you since the day before and when we asked people if they had seen you, they said no so we got kinda worried. Thats all" explained Naruto with a playful chuckle.

"Oh. I'm alright." Sakura said with a smile that seemed almost fake in a way. "Just shopping"

"Shopping for the Valentine's day festival tommorow?" asked Naruto as he started to think about what this could mean.

"Y-yeah" she replied with a sort of uncertain stammer in her voice. After her response, Naruto looked at her and wondered if this could mean that Sasuke would be there. He had a hunch deep in the pit of his stomach that she somehow ended up with him at the end of the tunnel of destiny and still believes it.

"Who are you going to the festival with?" asked Sai to Sakura. Sakura's eyes jolted fully open after hearing Sai's question then she slowly turned her head to the side; avoiding eye contact with Naruto and Sai.

"Well...I was hoping that Sas-" but before Sakura could finish her statement, she was interupted with a sudden "Hey" from Shikamaru and Temari as they walked up behind Naruto and Sai.

"Hey Shikamaru. Hey Temari" said Naruto. Sai gave a slight head bow to them as a hello and Sakura smiled big as she was hoping for an interruption before she could say what she was going to say.

"What are you guys doing?" asked Naruto to Shikamaru and Temari.

"Too troublesome to explain-..." said Shikamaru as he looked at Naruto.

"We are just shopping for Valentine's Day festival gifts together" replied Temari as she held Shikamaru's hand.

"Me too" said Sakura. "I just bought-..." Sakura stopped herself from saying what she wanted to say. Everyone stayed silent from hearing Sakura suddenly become quiet.

"Well we are going to the movies later on" said Shikamaru breaking the awkward silence. "You guys can come. Naruto? How bout it? Sakura, Sai? You guys are invited if you want to come"

"No thanks." responed Naruto. "I'mma see if Hinata wants to do anything later" said Naruto looking at his watch.

"Sure I'll co-" but before Sai could finish taking Shikamaru up on his offer with his usual smile, Sakura placed a hand over Sai's mouth and chuckled nervously.

"Silly Sai. Don't you remember that you have to help me and Naruto later with that thing?" said Sakura still with the nervous chuckle. Sai looked on at Sakura weirdly as he didnt know what she was talking about.

"What thing?" Sai asked but it was muffled by her hand being on his mouth.

"You know. The thing...right Naruto?" said Sakura to Naruto as she gave him a face that signaled for him to just agree with her.

"Eh... What thing?" said a dumbfounded Naruto. "I dont remember a 'thing'.

Sakura chuckled and gave a playful punch to Naruto's head while still holding Sai's mouth. "Yeah, we have that thing to do but you two love birds go have fun" she said with a smile.

"Okay... We'll see you guys later then" said Shikamaru to then in his usual lazy manner.

"See ya" said Temari in her usual way and left but not before giving a hintful wink to Sakura. And with that, they left them.

Sakura gave a sigh of relief and Naruto rose back to his feet in confusion. "Now tell me. What thing do we have to do?" asked Naruto.

"Yeah, What is the 'thing'?" asked Sai.

"I could tell that Temari wanted to be with Shikamaru alone. She probably told him that it was considered a date but seeing as Shikamaru is not too keen on girls, he probably didnt realize it. I dont think she would appreciate more people tagging along on her date." said Sakura.

"But why not? He offered" asked Sai still confused.

"You dont want to be a third wheel, do you? That is what you would have felt if you went with them. Its best to respect the wishes of her wanting to be alone with her boyfriend and not interfere." said Sakura with a nod.

"Whats a third wheel?" asked Sai confused.

"Nevermind..." said Sakura as she shook her head.

"Then he should not have offered if we were unable to go" responded Sai with an over analytical response.

"Boys... dont understand anything" said a fed up Sakura.

"Hey! I understood... sorta... So, Sakura-chan, Who is the present for?" asked Naruto walking along side Sakura.

"Uhh...Well its for..." stammered Sakura as she didnt want to reveal that she got a present for Sasuke.

Naruto looked at Sakura then finally realized who she bought the present for. Secretly, Sai was beginning to figure out as well about Sakura's secret as well. "_This could be the perfect time for me to heal the bonds of friendship between Sasuke and Naruto_" thought Sai.

"I have to go, Naruto, Sakura... See you tommorow." Sai said with his famous smile then walked off away from Naruto and Sakura.

"Uhh.. Okay. See Ya Sai!" waved Naruto.

Sakura remained silent for awhile then looked ahead to try and shield her secret from Naruto.

"Sakura-chan... is that present for..."

"So Naruto. How is Hinata?" Interrupted Sakura.

"Eh?... Oh she is great but who is the present f-..."

"Thats good. She's a good person" said Sakura cutting off Naruto's question again.

Naruto gave up on asking her if the present was for Sasuke and looked to the side. Just then he heard someone calling him.

"Naruto-kun!" shouted Hinata running up to the side of him.

"Hinata! Hey" Naruto greeted her.

"Hey. I w-wanted to tell you that I've b-been signed on to a m-mission and that I wont be able to go on our d-date tonight..." said Hinata while looking downward.

"Its okay. We are going to make all the fun up when we go to the festival tommorow." said Naruto then noticed that Hinata was holding a red box in her hand. "Hey! Is that for me!" asked Naruto excitedly.

Hinata blushed and quickly placed the gift behind her back. "Y-yeah..." replied Hinata. "W-well. I'll talk to y-you tommorow. I have to leave for the mission now with Kiba and Shino."

Naruto gave a nod to the long haired Hyuuga heir and hugged her before she left. Hinata blush as usual and smiled at Naruto then walked out of the mall.

Naruto continue to look on where Hinata was at then remembered Sakura. "Huh?...Sakura-chan?... Where did she go?" he asked himself then suddenly someone else walked up to Naruto.

"Hey Naruto. What are you doing here?" asked Iruka.

"Iruka-sensei!" shouted Naruto as he gave Iruka a hug. "Its been awhile. A long while. I havent seen you in forever" exclaimed Naruto. "I was just talking with Sakura-chan but I guess she already left."

"I see. So do you have the gift for Hinata yet? Yeah I know" Iruka said was a chuckle. "Kakashi told me everything."

"Well. I want to get her this Necklace but it is far too expensive and I can tell she really wants it" Naruto said looking at Iruka.

"Hmm... Well...How about I help you out Naruto. I'll loan you the money and you can pay me back when you get it. How's that sound?"

Naruto jumped up in joy of hearing Iruka's words. "Thank you Iruka Sensei!" exclaimed Naruto as Iruka handed him some money. "Now I can get her that gift." Naruto said as he ran off to buy the necklace for Hinata. Iruka chuckled happily seeing Naruto so happy and watched as Naruto bought the necklace. After buying it, he grinned and ran back out to Iruka. "I got it!" said Naruto holding the box up to Iruka in glory.

"Great! Now how about we go get some ramen? Huh? My treat" offered Iruka.

"YEAH! RAMEN!" shouted Naruto in joy. And with that, Iruka and Naruto walked off to the Ramen shop.

Later that night. Sakura awaited in her room, sitting on her bed and holding the present behind her back. She checked her watched; it read 10:59pm.

Unknowing to Sakura, Sai stood atop her house awaiting and hidding as well to see if his predictions were right; if they were, then this could be his chance to help Naruto in bringing back Sasuke.

"I'm here, Sakura." came a voice from Sakura's window pane.

"Sasuke-Kun! I almost thought you wouldnt show up" said Sakura rushing up to give Sasuke a hug. "I got you a present for you. I wanted to give it to you now. I dont suppose you would be coming to the Valentine's day festival tommorow" said Sakura as she showed Sasuke the present.

"Sakura... you know I cant go. I want to go with you but I cant" said Sasuke in his normal tone as she jumped down from the window pane and sat on her bed then looked down as if he had some bad news.

Sakura, sensing something was wrong, put down the present on her desk and looked at Sasuke. "Sasuke-kun?... is something wrong?" she asked him.

"Sakura... Orochimaru told me of somethings... Somethings I gotta do If I am to kill my brother. This latest scheme he's working on... the whole thing with the haunted house and the resurrection ritual... Its all have to do with the destruction of Konoha and I know, with all the resources he has, this is going to work without flaw." said Sasuke still looking downward.

"What are you saying... Sasuke-kun?" said a worried Sakura as she grabbed Sasuke's hand with both of hers and sat alittle closer to him. "...Sasuke-kun..."

"I'm saying that the plan to destroy konoha is going to commense tommorow officially. I have to go along with it if I am to kill him and restore my clan." said Sasuke clinching his other fist.

Hearing this from Sasuke started to make Sakura's eyes tear up in sadness but she nonetheless, held on tight to his hand not wanting to let go.

"But..." Sakura's eyes twitched hearing Sasuke continue. "... every since I have been coming to see you at this time most nights, I feel different. Its like I'm being torn in two pieces. One wanting to be here and the other wanting to do whatever it takes to kill my brother..." Sasuke explained then slowly glanced over at Sakura who was looking back at him into his eyes.

Sakura contined to look into his eyes and blinked slowly.

"I know its hard to understand the situation I'm in but..." Sasuke said to Sakura in a low tone of inner sorrow when suddenly he sensed something. Sasuke quickly glanced down and saw a form of ink crawling toward his leg. Thinking quickly, Sasuke jumped to his feet and out of the window and onto the top of Sakura's house to confront Sai.

"So its you again..." Sasuke said back to looking his evil way. "My replacement for team 7"

Sai looked on at Sasuke and began to think of what he was going to do next. His sneak attack with the ink jutsu didnt work so now he had to improvise. "Sasuke, I am going to rejuvenate the bonds between you and Naruto." Sai said as he began to do a jutsu which created 4 ink beast-like creatures appear from his drawing on Sakura's roof.

Sasuke gave an evil snicker then charged the ink beasts. Sakura quickly jumped to the roof from her window and saw Sai fighting with Sasuke. "No! Dont fight!" she yelled out to them but to no avail.

Sasuke, moving swiftly, took out his Kusenagi from it's sheath and sliced through all the the ink beasts then charged for Sai. Thinking on his feet, Sai quickly ducked out of the way of the deadly sword then rolled back on his feet. "_I have to stay some distance to fight him_." thought Sai as he took out two kunai.

"Hmph. Your kunai wont beat my Kusenagi blade." stated Sasuke; Sai stood ready nonetheless. Starting the fight back up, Sai threw his first kunai at Sasuke, in which Sasuke just caught it with his open hand. Next, Sai threw his last kunai, but this time making it stick to the ground(the roof's floor) infront of Sasuke. Sasuke looked on confused but then Sai started to form handseals again; suddenly causing the kunai in Sasuke's hand to turn into a ink like substance making Sasuke's hand stick and clinched in a fist. Sasuke looked at his hand as he couldnt open it into a palm.

Next, Sai performed another set of handseals in which making the kunai on the ground turn to the same type of sticky ink and ran over Sasuke's feet; making him stuck to the ground of which he stood. Finally, Sai took out a kunai and prepared to attack Sasuke. Sasuke looked on at Sai but was unworried, as was Sai. Sai then suddenly dashed toward Sasuke and thrusted the kunai at him. Sasuke suddenly, before the kunai could reach him, broke out of the sticky ink and cut the kunai that Sai was about to stab him with. Sai, now suprised, was defenseless. Sasuke gave an evil smirk, not even bothering to activate sharingan to beat Sai. Sasuke smirk on at Sai then finally stabbed him with the Kusenagi blade. Sakura watched on in horror as Sai was stabbed but then suddenly, something strange happened. Sai began to turn into ink too after being stabbed. It was a Ink clone made by Sai before Sasuke got on the roof. The ink that the clone made dripped from the Kusenagi and to the roof.

Sasuke gasp litely. "An Ink clone..." he said to himself as he realized that he would have known that from the beginning that he was fighting a clone if he had the sharingan activated. Suddenly, the real Sai jumped up onto the roof behind Sasuke and threw a kunai at Sasuke's back. Sasuke, sensing this, quickly turned the upper half of his body and caught it at the last minute. Sai landed on the roof then formed one hand seal. Sasuke's eyes widened at what he was holding... a kunai...with a explosive tags wrapped around it. It was checkmate. Sasuke quickly tried to move but the sticky ink on the ground held Sasuke's feet still while the ink of the same kind stuck Sasuke's Kusenagi to the ground. Sasuke quickly tried to throw the kunai away but the leftover sticky ink from his hand made it stick to it just enough.

Seeing this, Sakura quickly ran to Sai. "Dont Do it! Dont hurt Sasuke-kun!" yelled Sakura (this would be the slow motion running part)

Sai prepared to detonate the explosive tag but stopped as Sakura ran up in the way of the range of explosion.

"Sakura!..." Sai said in suprise just in enough time to stop himself from making the tag explode.

Seeing his window of opportunity, Sasuke quickly performed the Chidori Current and broke out of the sticky ink then ran up to Sai in blinding speed and punched in the stomach; making him collapse on Sakura's roof and knocked out.

Sakura's eyes were full of tears seeing Sai on the ground (roof) knocked out. Just then, Sasuke picked Sai up; holding him under his arms then looked back at Sakura. "I have to go." he said back in his evil way again and disappeared with an unconsious Sai under his arms; leaving Sakura on her roof silently crying as one of her teammates has been taking hostage.

**THATS CHAPTER 13. This is the the part of the story where the problems start to come into play. As you just read, Sai got kidnapped. I made him put up a good fight though. Also, you can see that Sakura is having a hard time with her life at the moment as well. I bet you guys knew that Sakura was having secret meetings with Sasuke already lol. Well i hope you guys review. I love reading them! More secrets to be revealed later in the up coming chapters! Stay tuned**


	14. Where's Sai?

TUNNEL OF DESTINED LOVE 2

**CHAPTER 14 - WHERE'S SAI?**

The next morning, Naruto awakened from his slumber, yawning and stretching his arms as high as they can go. "Today is the day of the Valentine's Day festival!" shouted Naruto as he jumped off of his bed and changed his clothes. "Oh, Hinata is going to love the present I got her!" he grinned as he looked at the wrapped present box. "Time to go" he said to himself. He picked up the box and walked out of the door.

"Good morning, Naruto" came a voice behind Naruto after he stepped off of his last step.

"Eh? Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto muttered as he turned to see his sensei standing there with a smile across his face. "Why are you here?"

"Hey, is that any way to greet someone in the morning, Naruto?" asked Kakashi with his same smile on his face. "Well, in any case, I thought I'd treat team 7 to breakfast today. Be at the Konoha breakfast shop in 5 minutes. Oh, and find Sai, too, and let him know. I'll find Yamato and Sakura. See ya then" said Kakashi with a quick wave of his hand and disappeared into a cloud of smoke.

"...Kakashi is treating us to breakfast?... Okay, well, its time to find Sai, then... now where would he be?" Naruto asked himself. "Hmm.." he placed his hand up to his chin and began to think of Sai reading a book. "The library...Ill check there first."

In the Library, Naruto scaled the aisles in search of Sai but to no avail. "He's not here... Oh well, Ill just go to breakfast now, and tell them I couldnt find him..." said the lazy Naruto as he placed his hands behind his head and walked to the Konoha breakfast shop.

"So Kakashi, to what do we owe this occasion?" said a smiling Yamato as he sat across from Kakashi at the breakfast shop.

"Hmm? Oh, well, I figured you guys deserved it." said Kakashi rubbing the back of his head.

"Hiya guys!" Shouted Naruto as he walked in and sat down next to Yamato. "So, what are we having? Im starving!"

"We havent ordered yet..." said Kakashi as he looked at Naruto then noticed something. "Wheres Sai?"

"I couldnt find him. I dont know where he could be. He wasnt at the library and that is where he usually is at. By the way, where is Sakura-chan?" asked Naruto looking around.

"Here I am..." said Sakura with a lower than normal voice tone walking into the shop and sitting down next to Kakashi. "Sorry Im late, everyone"

Naruto smiled at the pink headed ninja. "Hey Sakura-chan. Happy Valentine's Day."

"Hey, Sakura, have you seen Sai anywhere?" asked Yamata.

Suddenly, the happenings of the previous night of Sai getting kidnapped by Sasuke flashed into her mind. Nevertheless, she covered it up. "No, I havent seen him, either..." lied Sakura.

"Hmm... thats odd, where could he be?" asked Kakashi. "He isnt usually hard to find"

Sakura's heart began to beat fast and she began to sweat alittle uneasily. Naruto looked over at her and looked on carefully.

"Uh, Sakura-chan... are you hot? you're sweating..." said Naruto looking at her.

Sakura snapped back to the present moment and looked at Naruto shockingly then calmed to a fake smile. "Yea, kinda."

"Well, in any case, we should eat up. Tsunade will be starting up the Valentine Day festival. We'll run into him sooner or later." suggested Kakashi as the waiters brought out the food.

"Yeah! time to eat!" exclaimed Naruto as he began to chow down.

Sakura's mind was still fixated on Sai's kidnapping by Sasuke to the point where all she did to her food was stab at it with her fork softly.

"Not hungry, Sakura?" asked Kakashi looking at Sakura's plate.

"Oh, no, no, just thinking" she said with a reassuring fake smile.

After everyone finished eating, Kakashi, Yamata, Sakura and Naruto all proceeded onto the gates of the Konoha festival where everyone was gathered in waiting for Tsunade to make her opening valentine's day festival speech before the gates open.

"I wonder if Hinata got back from that mission, yet." said Naruto looking around the many crowded people for her. "I cant wait to see her expression when I give her this ultimate valentines gift."

Sakura stood there looking into space with the incident still on her mind and her valentine's day gift box in her hand.

"Hey! Sakura!" came a voice.

Sakura turned around and noticed Ino walking up to her. "Hey there, Ino" said Sakura.

"Hey, have you seen Sai? I have this present for him but I havent been able to find him." said Ino looking around while standing next to Sakura.

"Oh... No... I havent seen him..." said Sakura lying again.

"Oh, So you've been looking for him as well, Ino?" asked Kakashi walking up to both kunoichis.

Ino faced Kakashi, "Yeah, but I havent been able to find him. "I havent seen him since he came into the flower shop the other day."

"I see. I have an idea." said Kakashi as he bit his thumb and performed handseals. "Kuchiyose no Jutsu. (Summoning Technique) " he then placed his hand on the ground surface, summoning up all of his ninja dogs.

"Listen up. Sai is missing. I need you to locate him." said Kakashi to his Nin dogs.

"Ah, that would be no problem but it would be easier if we had something to smell of his to track his scent" said Pakkun, the head talking dog of the pack.

"Oh, I remember, he left this with me" said Ino as she pulled out Sai's drawing book that he left with her the other day.

"That'll work." said Kakashi as he nodded to Ino to let Pakkun and the other dogs smell Sai's drawing book.

Ino nodded and let the dog pack smell and sniff the drawing book.

"Alright. We have a trail of his scent. We'll report back to you, Kakashi, once we discover his whereabouts." said Pakkun as the dogs then scattered.

"Pakkun and the other dogs are on the job, now, they'll find him for sure." said Yamato with a reassuring smile to team 7.

Suddenly, Tsunade walked out on the ledge and looked down onto everyone preparing to start her speech.

**

* * *

****Thats chapter 14. Sorry for the LONG LONG wait. Couple of things factored this: First is ALOT of schoolwork which most of you can relate to. The second would be that my computer's hardrive or whatever they called it was corrupted for a long time and I couldnt use it for awhile (and when i say awhile, i mean about a period of 3 months). Anyways, I promise update soon. I hope you guys are still reading. Leave reviews please. I love the feedback.**

**_CHAPTER 15 PREVIEW_: When a misunderstanding happens between Naruto, Sakura and Hinata, things become hectic; Especially when Sasuke's newest order from Orochimaru is to bring Naruto to the hideout to power the jutsu. When Sasuke finds it hard to get Naruto, he takes matters into his own hands by forcing Naruto to come after him by taking something very special to him... Hinata. Find out what happens on the next chapter!**


	15. Misunderstandings

TUNNEL OF DESTINED LOVE 2

_**CHAPTER 15 - MISUNDERSTANDINGS**_

"Good Morning all of Konoha! As you all know, today is Valentine's Day and as such, we are celebrating it by having this festival. As all of you know also, it is tradition in Konoha to give the one you admire a present. I see there are alot of people who have presents. Thats great to see. Well, be sure to wait for that special moment to hand them over and be sure to have fun!" said Tsunade as she smiled upon the many people of Konoha. The doors to the festival began to open and everyone rushed in with a big grin upon their faces.

"Well, I will see you guys later. Im off" said Kakashi as he poofed away with a cloud of smoke.

"Why does he always do that? what cant he ever just walk away" said Naruto as a joke with a laugh then looked at Sakura's facial expression. "Uh... Sakura-chan? You dont look so good... are you alright?"

Naruto looked at Naruto and gave her same foney smile. "Yeah...So uhh... what do you want to do first?" asked Sakura as she walked with Naruto.

"Well, I was looking for Hinata but I guess she didnt get back from her mission yet" said Naruto as he looked at the present he was holding. "This is so cool, Sakura-chan! Today is a happy day! A great day that nothing can ruin!" exclaimed Naruto walking with his head held high.

"...Naruto... I need to tell you something...about Sai..." said Sakura holding her present and beginning to show signs of tears in her eyes.

"Eh? About Sai?" asked Naruto

"...I cant say it here... Follow me" said Sakura softly to Naruto as she grabbed his hand and lead the way to a quiet place to confess.

Unknowingly to Naruto, Hinata, just walking into the front gates, was looking for him holding a gift for him as well.

"Hey Hinata. Do you see him yet?" asked Kiba to Hinata.

"No...Maybe he didnt come" guessed Hinata.

"Oh he's here alright. I mean, Naruto wouldnt stay home on a day like today." said Kiba convincing her that Naruto was there.

"There he is, Hinata" said Shino pointing a finger to direct Hinata to him.

Hinata looked into the direction that Shino pointed to and saw Naruto walking away from the crowd with Sakura. Hinata gave a smile as she began to walk after them slowly, all the while thinking on how Naruto's reaction will be to the present she got him while on her mission.

Meanwhile, Sakura, while holding Naruto's hand still, lead him away from the crowd and onto a high wooden shack. Once inside the wooden shack, Sakura let go of Naruto's hand and slowly turned her head away from him.

"Sakura-chan?" said Naruto slowly looking at the back of her head while leaning slightly on the wall of that small shack.

"Naruto..." Sakura slowly turned around to face him, her face wet from tears.

Naruto's glare never turned away from her face. He remained silent and sad to see Sakura so troubled.

"Naruto... Sasuke kidnapped Sai..."

"What?... Sasuke?" said Naruto. "When did this happen?"

"Im sorry... I couldnt stop him... I couldnt... " said Sakura with overwhelming tears streaming down her face.

"...Sakura-chan...dont worry about it...we'll get him back. I promise" said Naruto giving a thumbs up pose to Sakura to reassure her.

Sakura looked at Naruto closely. It was that look again. That same look that he gave when he promised her to bring back Sasuke.

"Naruto...you're always there for me..." said Sakura as her tears continued to fall. She continued to look at Naruto's smile as if things will be fine in no time and began to feel alittle better.

"Trust me Sakura-chan."

Sakura took a hand and wiped her tears from her cheek then suddenly lunged out to Naruto and embraced him in a loving hug. Naruto's eyes widened as the embrace took him by suprise.

"Sakura-chan..." Naruto said slowly and lowly as Sakura burrowed her head snuggly on his chest. Naruto slowly, to confort her, slowly brought his arms around her.

Meanwhile, Hinata made her way to the wood shack with a smile upon her face. "I hope Naruto-kun likes this..." she said to herself as she turned into the shack but quickly stepped back out of the shack after seeing the image of Naruto hugging Sakura against a wall. Hinata's heart began to beat fast and hard in her chest. "N-Naruto-kun?..." she said in her mind as she slowly peeked around the corner and saw Naruto hugging Sakura. The image haunted her mind for that short amount of time and instantly made her smile fade to a depressing sad face. She looked at the present she was holding and began to cry slowly. Now depressed, Hinata placed the present with the tag labeled for Naruto on the outside of the shack and left with a broken heart.

Sakura let go of Naruto and gave him a smile. "Thank you, Naruto"

"No problem, Now all we gotta do is find out where Sasuke took Sai... any ideas?" asked Naruto

"No... Maybe Pakkun will find out soon... Its best just to wait until we hear from them and Kakashi" said Sakura analyzing.

"Yeah, in the mean time, lets go have some fun." said Naruto with a shout of excitment.

"Hey, where's Hinata?" asked Sakura

"On a mission. I was hoping she'd be back by now" said Naruto. "I have a present for her"

The valentine's day festival went on from there as scheduled. The party lasted all day long and everyone was having a blast.

Hours later, at night with a couple minutes before closing time for the festival, Naruto, eating cotton candy, walked along with Sakura laughing and talking.

"Today was one of the best days ever!" shouted Naruto excitedly. "I hope that Hinata will be back soon though. I really wanted to give her this present" said Naruto looking at the present in his hand.

"Hey! Naruto!" came a voice shouting to Naruto.

Naruto turned to face the person calling him. "Hey Kiba! Whats up?" said Naruto

"Ah, Nothing. Just been hanging out with Shino all day here" said Kiba with a smile. "So how was your time with Hinata? Did you like the gift she got for you?"

"Eh?... what do you mean? She never came here" said naruto alittle confused.

"Yeah she did. She tried to catch up with you when you were leaving up to the shack. You didnt see her?" asked Kiba.

"...No i didnt...Wait...the shack!" Naruto quickly ran from Kiba and the others and jumped up to the shack that Sakura lead him to earlier. Once there, Naruto looked around to see if he saw Hinata but to no avail.

"...eh? whats that?" Naruto saw a present on the ground and he kneeled to pick it up then read the tag. "To...me...from Hinata" Naruto quickly tore open the package and gasped at what he found. "Its...Its...a ticket to the ramen exibit!!!!!!!!!!" shouted Naruto. "I thought those tickets were sold out... They were said to be impossible to get..." Naruto said to himself as he started to tear up from the present.

Later that night, after the closing of the park, Naruto walked alone thinking about Hinata while holding the ticket and the present he had for her. He continued to walk when suddenly he saw someone that made him cheer up greatly!

"Hinata!" he shouted out to her. She was walking home alone in the night as was just about everyone leaving from the festival. In the shadows of the night, Sasuke, unknowing to everyone, watched on at Naruto, waiting for a chance to begin phase one of Orochimaru's plans which called for Naruto.

Hinata turned around slowly and saw Naruto. "N-Naruto-kun..." said Hinata slowly and depressingly sad.

"Hinata! Im so glad I caught up to you. I wanted to give you this present all day long. Here. I hope you like it" said Naruto handing over the present in the moonlight.

Starting to cheer up alittle, Hinata took the present and opened to reveal the necklace she was eyeing before.

"N-naruto-k-kun..." said Hinata with a lost for words at the extravagant present.

"Hinata. I just want to say that Im sorry I didnt get to spend time with you today..." he said as he took the necklace from her softly to place it around her neck. "can I?" asked Naruto signaling to place the necklace on her himself.

Giving a blush, Hinata nodded positively and lifted up her long hair as Naruto placed the necklace around her neck. Once on, Naruto backed up and looked how beautifully it shinned in the moonlight on her.

Suddenly, a voice came from a dark area close to them. "Naruto, You will come with me." said the voice.

"Huh? who's there!? Show yourself!" shouted Naruto to the shadowy figure.

From the shadows, Sasuke stepped out wearing his sound ninja attire.

"Sasuke..." said Naruto.

"Naruto... Orochimaru needs you for his plans. Come with me. Fail to comply and I will have to take matters into my own hands by forcing you to come with me."

"Lets see you try!" said Naruto with a snappy reply as he got in battle position leaving Hinata out of the battle area.

"Hmph. You asked for it." said Sasuke as he suddenly disappeared. Naruto began to look around for Sasuke but couldnt sense him.

"Hmm... show yourself Sasuke."

Suddenly, a thud noise could be heard as if someone was just quickly struck.

"Too late, Naruto. " Said Sasuke from behind Naruto.

"Huh? What the!?" Yelled Naruto as he saw a knocked out Hinata under Sasuke's arms. "Let her go!" yelled Naruto, his anger building up quickly.

"If you want her back. Come to the old haunted house where the first festival took place. Go to the 4th chamber floor. We'll be waiting there. Come alone or there will be unnecessary deaths. We'll be waiting." said Sasuke as he disappeared with a knocked out Hinata.

"Grr! Sasuke!" yelled out Naruto as the kyuubi's energy began to leak out from his anger.

* * *

Thats Chapter 15. Sorry if it seemed alittle short or rushed. I didnt mean for it to be that way if it did. Well it is drawing close to the action parts now. I hope you guys like. The next chapter will be out alittle later than these last two were but they will be out. Hope you guys leave reviews. Thanks 

**CHAPTER 16 - WHEN NARUTO ALERTS KAKASHI AND TSUNADE ABOUT SASUKE'S THREAT AND OROCHIMARU'S ACTIONS, A PLAN IS FORMULATED. WITH THE HELP OF TSUNADE'S EXTREME BUMPER CARS, TEAM KAKASHI ALONG WITH SOME OTHER CHUUNINS PREPARE TO INFILTRATE THE HAUNTED HOUSE IN SEARCH OF THEIR KIDNAPPED COMRADES AND OROCHIMARU. ALSO, WATCH AS ANKO, STILL IN THE SAND VILLAGE, TRIES TO ESCAPE GAARA! WHAT WILL HAPPEN? FIND OUT ON THE NEXT CHAPTER.**


	16. Recruit & Move Out!

Tunnel of Destined Love Pt 2

**Chapter 16 - Recruit and Move out!**

"What!? This is bad! So thats what happened to Sai..." said Tsunade at her desk with her hand to her forehead.

"And now they have Hinata..." said Kakashi thinking...

"Im going!" yelled Naruto as he turned and began to rush toward Tsunade's office door.

"Wait! Naruto! Thats just what Orochimaru wants you to do. He figured that you would come when Sasuke kidnapped Sai. Since you didnt..." Tsunade kept on her sentence...

"They targeted the person closest to you... being Hinata Hyuuga" Kakashi finishing Tsunade's sentence.

"It doesnt matter now. All that matters is getting Hinata and Sai back! And I'm going to do that tonight!" said Naruto walking toward the door once more.

"Naruto... calm down. I know how you feel but if you go rushing in without some sort of plan... you'll be falling right into Orochimaru's plans..." said Kakashi

"Then what are we going to do?" said Naruto as he turned to face them once more.

"Well, from what Jiraiya told us... Orochimaru needs you in order to perform his resurrection jutsu. So... I think its best if you stay out of this, Naruto" said Tsunade.

"WHAT!?" Yelled Naruto in suprise.

"Dont worry. I will send Anbu to the location you told us where Sasuke said you should go." Tsunade said to Naruto leaning upward in her chair.

"No! Im going! He took Sai and Hinata. If I dont go, he's just going to keep taking people until I do go. Next will probably be Sakura-chan. Then Konohamaru." said Naruto as he slammed his hand on the surface of Tsunade's desk.

Tsunade took a deep breathe. "Fine... you can go. But I am only allowing you to go if you can find atleast 2 team captains for this and 6 members. I think it is necessary for 2 team captains for this job... just incase you need extra help. As soon as you can recruit, you can move out."

"Alright." said Naruto then looked at his sensei with a smirk. "Kakashi-sensei?"

"Fine I guess Ill be your team captain" said Kakashi with a smile.

"Great! now I just need six members and another team captain" said Naruto as he began to think who he could recruit. "hmm... who else could we get?"

Suddenly, Gai came running into the hokage office with Lee. "Haha! I heard you were going on a mission that requires 2 captains." Gai said to Kakashi

Kakashi looked at Gai weirdly "How did you hear about it? We just said it 2 minutes ago?..."

Gai looked back at Kakashi with a big smile, "You'd be amazed what the power of youth can do, right Lee!"

"Right!" shouted Lee with respect to his sensei.

"Riiiiight... well, hey, now you have 2 captains... now we just need 6 members" said Kakashi to Naruto.

Lee's eye's gave a twitch. "Naruto-kun. I would like to help as well if I can."

Naruto smiled and nodded to his bushy brow friend. "Great. now we just need 5"

"I'll go as well...Its been awhile since last I helped you out, Naruto" came a familiar voice.

Naruto looked over towards the doorway to see who said that "Kiba!" shouted Naruto with a smile.

"Haha... Im in! No one takes a team mate of mine and gets away with it!" said Kiba with a fist.

"Ill go as well" came a voice behind Kiba.

Kiba and Naruto turned and looked to see who volunteed. "Shikamaru!"

"I heard you were going on a rescue mission... Ill help as well." said Shikamaru.

Kakashi turned toward Tsunade, "How is everyone hearing about this? Was there an announcement or something that we missed?" whispered Kakashi to Tsunade. Tsunade shrugged as she was puzzled to how everyone was finding out about this.

"Okay, So we have Kakashi-sensei and Gai-sensei for team captain... Then theres me. And as for the 6 more members, we have Bushy brows, Kiba and Shikamaru. That leaves 3 more people." analyzed Naruto.

"Whoa!" shouted Kiba in suprise out of nowhere.

Naruto jumped up in response to Kiba. "What!?" he asked Kiba.

Kiba's shocked face went to a devious smirk, "...I didnt know you could count" said Kiba then started chuckling in humor. Tsunade couldnt help but chuckle at Kiba's joke as well.

"SHUT UP, KIBA! THIS IS NO TIME FOR JOKES LIKE THAT!" shouted Naruto with a goofy rage to a laughing Kiba.

Shikamaru rubbed his ears after hearing Naruto yelling, "Take it easy, Naruto, it was just a joke. Besides, we still need 3 more people. The quicker we find them, the quicker we can start the mission." said Shikamaru calmly.

"You're right, Shikamaru. So who should we recruit next"

"Hey! Ill go!" came a voice from the door.

Everyone turned to see who it was this time, "Ino?... you wanna go on this mission, too. But you dont even know the specifics of this mission" asked Shikamaru.

"Yeah I do. Its a rescue mission... and Id like to help. But that still leaves us with 2 more people to recruit" said Ino as she walked into the room.

Kakashi leaned once again over to Tsunade, "How does she know?" asked a weirded out Kakashi. Tsunade, once again, shrugged her shoulders as she was just as clueless as Kakashi.

Suddenly, Sakura walked into the hokage office. "And if Ino-pig is going. Then Ill go"

Ino snickered at Sakura in a friendly rivalry way.

"Sakura-chan! thats great. Now we just need one more person." said Naruto getting excited.

Suddenly, there was another voice at the door of the hokage. "Ill go" said a lower voice.

Everyone turned and looked at the door and to their suprise, saw who was their last volunteer was. "GAARA?!?!"

Naruto walked up to Gaara and smiled. "Gaara! What are you doing, here?"

"I couldnt get any kage work done... That woman... she is too loud and annoying to have as a slave for this long" said Gaara in his usual slow tone. "So I'm letting Kankuro and Temari order her around as punishment for making me have to leave to find some peace."

"I dont blame him... Anko is a loud person, indeed." Said Tsunade with a smirk along with Shizune holding tonton the pig.

"Anyways, Ill go on this mission of yours. Anything to kill the boredom." said Gaara with his hands crossed.

Naruto smiled big. "Yes. This is great. Now the team is set! Finally."

"Didnt have to do much... everyone mysteriously popped in and instantly knew about the mission." said Kakashi rubbing his head.

Shizune started to laugh after seeing Kakashi and Tsunade's weirded-out faces.

"Shizune? What is it?" asked Tsunade.

"Well... I wasnt going to say anything but... the reason everyone knows of the mission is because... is because...your elbow is on the intercom button!...The loud speaker is on. That is how everyone found out about it!"

Tsunade looked down at her elbow... it was holding down the intercom button as Shizune had said. "Oh..." said Tsunade with a goofy face.

"That explains it" said Kakashi shaking his head. "Anyways, lets move out, team." said Kakashi and Gai at the same time.

"Right!" yelled everyone and proceeded towards the door.

As they walked towards the door, Naruto looked at everyone that volunteered then looked at Shikamaru. "Hey, Shikamaru?"

Shikamaru looked at Naruto. "Hm?"

"Why did you volunteer to help? I would have thought you would say it was too troublesome to be involved in..." said Naruto.

Shikamaru looked up at the roof of the building as they walked. "Because... remember when you made that promise to Sakura..." said Shikamaru waiting for Naruto's response.

"yeah, I remember" said Naruto looking at the side of Shikamaru's face.

"...as I said back then... I didnt even like Sasuke... Normally I wouldnt do anything for a guy like him... but... he was a comrade of ours once. And I told you that I would help you keep your promise... so..."

Naruto walked listening silently still... "so..?"

Shikamaru looked at Naruto with a smirk of confidence, "Lets go bring 'em home"

* * *

And thats chapter 16! Sorry bout the wait. I GOT A JOB!!! AHHHH!!! LOL Which means I dont have time like i use to. But, I will try to update soon. This chapter was sort of a short one and it wasnt originally going to be in, but since i dont have time anymore, I wanted to give you guys atleast something. I hope ya liked it. Please Review and let me know how ya liked it!. Thanks guys 


	17. Enter the Nexus

Tunnel of Destined Love Pt 2 

**Chapter 17 - Enter the Nexus**

Outside of the strange haunted housed entrance, the newly formed team stood ready for anything.

"Alright, Lets go inside and finish this!" said Naruto getting pumped up and ran toward the door with loads of energy.

"Naruto! Hold up..." shouted Kakashi, stopping Naruto from charging down the door. "We dont know what is inside of there. We should really proceed with extreme caution."

"Kakashi-sensei's right" agreed Shikamaru. "Its more than likely that you'll be running right into a trap by just charging in so carelessly."

Naruto stopped his charge and turned to face the team. "Okay, then what do you suppose we do then? We cant just stand outside this mansion all night. Its not like a portal or something is going to open right before our eyes leading us to Orochimaru and the others" said Naruto sarcastically.

**Meanwhile...**

"Wha... Where am I?" said Sai waking up from his unconsiousness. "What is this place?" said Sai as he observed the scene of a dungeon like gloomy room lit with a couple candles along the wall. He shook his head and continued to observe his surroundings. He noticed he was tied to a pole with very weird feeling rope that was rather tightly tied. He continued to examine the rope and it appeared to not be what he thought was a regular rope.

"They're not normal ropes..." came a voice directed toward Sai.

Sai turned his head and noticed that he wasnt alone. There, in the darkness along the wall, was Hinata tied to another poll.

"You're Hinata Hyuuga, right?" asked Sai to Hinata.

"Yes. I was kidnapped by Sasuke Uchiha."

Suddenly, a evil chuckled approached the tied up Sai and Hinata. A man slowly walked into their vision... "You guys are finally awake I see. I didnt think that sleep jutsu would keep you guys out for that long" said Kabuto fixing his glasses upon his face.

"I remember you... subordinate to Orochimaru... Kabuto" Said Sai with his normal face.

"Yes, I remember you as well. I made an info card on you. The one called Sai. Although i dont have much info on you, yet, you are quite the mysterious type." said Kabuto holding up Sai's info card then smirked. "We were so sure that Naruto-kun would show after your capture. That proved to be an error in our initial plan."

"So you kidnapped Hinata to make up for your error" said Sai as he struggled to get free.

"Yes. She seems to be very close to Naruto-kun... So we are certain he will show for her." Kabuto said looking toward the long haired Hyuuga girl then looked back at Sai. "Oh.. and I wouldnt struggle if I were you. Those ropes are not normal ropes. In fact, they're snakes that are binding you to the pillars."

Sai and Hinata became suprised and shocked hearing about the snakes that were holding them.

"They are a special breed that can constrict for a very long time. In addition, they are venomous... very venomous. If you struggle, it will cause them to become alert and defensive. If that happens, they may bite you and inject venom into your system. Then I calculate you would have 20 mintues to get an antidote in your system. If not, you will die" said Kabuto turning his back on them and walking away.

Sai and Hinata become very nervous to their situation. "Hinata, try to be as still as you can possibly be." said Sai trying to think of a way out. Hinata slightly nodded her head as sweat began to form and drip from her forehead.

"There has to be a way out of this situation" said Sai to himself while the venom snakes slithering against his body.

**In another chamber...**

"So, I see he has finally arrived" said Orochimaru to the approaching Kabuto.

"Yes, I calculated him coming alone, though... Ya know, with his statistics of being ruled by his temper and whatnot"

Orochimaru chuckled evily, "I have taken precautions for this. I knew that Tsunade and Jiraiya wouldnt let him come alone."

"Precautions?"

"I have prepared something special for his friends to deal with while we get that kyuubi energy" said Orochimaru in a low evil tone.

"I see. They are at the main doors. Shall we open them for them?" said Kabuto.

"No, open the nexus portal. That will lead them to the first chambers and will seperate Naruto from his friends."

"As you wish" said Kabuto as he performed a strange jutsu. "Ninpo, Nexus Path Jutsu" said Kabuto.

Orochimaru gave a evil laughter. "Its close... the destruction of Konoha... i can feel it..."

**Back outside the haunted building...**

5 seconds after Naruto said the comment about a portal openning up randomly, suddenly, a red and blac swirly portal opened behind Naruto.

Naruto turned around and to his suprise, saw a portal. "uh..."

"This is Orochimaru's doing..." said Kakashi as he observed the portal.

"Thats the Nexus portal... If you go inside, it will lead you to the inner chambers of the haunted house. Orochimaru must have summoned it" said Tsunade walking up behind the team.

"But why would he open a portal for us, though." asked Ino.

"Thats easy... He wants us to enter..." analyzed Shikamaru. "But if it leads us inside to the inner chambers, then we shouldnt let it go to waste."

"Then lets go!" shouted Naruto as he began to walk toward the portal.

"Your going to need a mode of transportation. Before you make it to the chambers, you will have to journey through the inner dimensions of this nexus, which is most likely booby trapped." said Tsunade.

"But why would he booby trap our way to the inner chamber?" asked Sakura.

"Seems to me that this nexus thing was designed to get rid of us... only allowing naruto to pass" said Kiba.

"Thats exactly it. Its naruto that Orochimaru wants, so the booby traps wont target him in fear of killing or injuring him." said Tsunade. "Jiraiya and I have been through this nexus inner dimension path. If you walk, it'll take a good 48 hours to get through it and make it to the other side to the chambers."

"2 days?..." said Kakashi thinking.

"I still dont understand this whole nexus thing. Why dont we just go through the doors? And what exactly is inside of this nexus thing? Is it another village or something?" said Naruto confused.

Shikamaru walked over to Naruto, "Here, I'll explain it alittle easier for you." he said. "Its like that tunnel of destined love ride. You start on the outside of it, in the front, with your destination being the other side of the tunnel. To make it to the other side, you have to go through the tunnel. This nexus portal is like that. You cant get to the other side unless you pass through the nexus. And since the nexus formed inches off of the doors, we cant enter through them."

Tsunade went on to explain the rest to Naruto for Shikamaru, "Its not a village inside... Its a vortex actually, but it has traps set for everyone except you. Although, the vortex can be changed by Orochimaru to a scenery of any location. For example, Itll start out white and void once you enter... but orochimaru can change the vortex into a place... like the mountains or even the moon if he wants to. Of course you wont actually be on the moon, itll just feel like it because of the vortex's property changes"

"Oh, I get it now." said Naruto.

"So, what are we going to do? If we walked, it will take us 2 days." asked Rock Lee.

"That is where I come in." said Tsunade with a smirk.

"Oh no, You dont mean..." said Kakashi having a feeling what she was going to offer them.

"Yep! youll have to use my extreme bumper cars. With those, itll take you about 2 to 4 hours tops to get there." said Tsunade.

"Alright! Thats alot better than 2 days. Lets go!" shouted Naruto.

"Here, You'll need these!" said Tsunade as she threw everyone a key. "These will turn on your extreme bumper car"

Naruto caught his key and smirk. "Yes! Lets go!" said Naruto as he ran to Tsunade's extreme bumper car ride and jumped into the number 5 orange bumper car then placed the key in and turned it on.

Soon after, everyone followed suit

Rock Lee jumped into the green number 1 car.  
Sakura jumped into the pink number 2 car.  
Ino jumped into the purple number 3 car.  
Kiba jumped into the gray number 4 car... with the giant size Akamaru sitting on the back weighing the car down some.

Gaara jumped into the red number 6 car.  
Kakashi jumped into the blue number 7 car.

Shikamaru jumped into the black number 8 car.  
and Lastly, Gai jumped into the dark green number 9 car then looked at Kakashi. "Hey Kakashi! Lets race! First one to the end of the nexus wins! If I lose, I have to do 100,000 push ups with one finger!"

Kakashi looked at Gai with a weirded look, "Uhh... maybe some other time..."

Shikamaru slowly started his car and looked over to Kakashi and Gai. "Hey, I think we should assign teams before we go into the nexus zone."

"Hmm... Thats a good idea, Shikamaru" said Kakashi.

"To balance out the teams, I have formed them. On your team, Kakashi-sensei, will be Naruto, Sakura, and Gaara"

Shikamaru then looked at Gai, "and on your team, Gai-sensei, will be Lee, Ino, Kiba and me"

"Got it!" said Gai then he threw everyone a walky talkie, "These will keep us in touch"

"Be careful" said Tsunade waving at them.

Naruto and the others gave a assuring nod.

"Oh, I think i should tell you guys that it is not neccesary to press hard on the gas pedal" said Kakashi remember his last time riding an extreme bumper car.

But before heeding Kakashi's words, Naruto thrusted his foot down forcibly on the gas and suddenly shot him quickly into the nexus with him screaming from it going so fast. Everyone looked on the screeching path naruto's car left on the ground from him moving so fast, even Gaara was suprised.

"He wont have to worry about dying from booby traps if he continues driving like that..." said Gaara as he pressed lightly on the gas and went in after the goofy screaming Naruto into the nexus.

"tried to warn him... " said Kakashi as everyone else drove into the nexus leaving Tsunade behind shaking her head with a laugh as she could still hear Naruto's goofy screams from it going fast.

"I hope they will succeed" said Tsunade to herself as she watch the nexus portal close behind the team while still hearing Naruto's girly scream echo starting to fade.

* * *

And thats Chapter 17. How did ya like it? I finally revealed some info about Sai and Hinata. I was going to do that earlier but it didnt work out that way so i hope it did this way. I hope you guys leave reviews. The next chapter will be coming soon hopefully. 


	18. Withstand the Nexus!

Tunnel of Destined Love Pt 2

**Chapter 18 - WITHSTAND THE NEXUS**

****

Journeying threw the Nexus Zone, Naruto and company continued through the white voided zone driving their bumper cars at a steady rate. The nexus zone was as white and void as ever, there had been no changes nor booby traps sprung as of yet for the 10 minutes theyve been traveling. Naruto, also, seemed to gain control of his bumper car finally...

Kiba drove up to Naruto and rode along side him, "So Naruto, seems you finally got the hang of driving"

Naruto chuckled, "hehehe no sweat! I just pressed too hard on the peddle is all... and it caught me by suprise" said Naruto taking one hand off the wheel and rubbing it through his hair and chuckling.

"Well, you know... If you would just wait and listen once in a while you wouldnt have been screaming like an idiot" said Sakura passing them up.

"He wouldnt have looked like one, either" said Gaara in his normal low tone as he passed them up as well... leaving Naruto with a goofy depressed look on his face from being called an idiot twice in the same insult.

All the while, Rock Lee drove his bumper car along side Gai, Kakashi and Shikamaru.

Gai looked over at Kakashi and gave a grin.

Kakashi, feeling that Gai was looking at him with one of his 'Im-about-to-challenge-you-to-a-meaningless-event' look, turned to look at Gai, "Uhh...something wrong, Gai?" asked Kakashi with a innocent face.

Gai chuckled, "Nothing at all my worthy rival. What is the game plan for when we reach the end of the nexus zone"

"Well, I havent thought that far." said Kakashi looking upward. "Im thinking we could split up using the teams that Shikamaru constructed and do a search party"

In the chamber...

"Looks like my calculations were off once again. I didnt expect them to drive through the nexus zone" said Kabuto.

"Lets change the scenery of the Nexus zone to something more challenging..." said Orochimaru to Kabuto as they observed naruto and company through a portal opening.

"Alright. Lets see if they can handle the stormy mountain top regions" said Kabuto as he performed some handseals to change the nexus's appearance and area to a stormy mountain region. "I may also have a way of getting rid of everyone in a more sufficient way, Orochimaru-sama" said Kabuto with a smirk.

"And what would that be?" said Orochimaru

"Theres a 78 chance that they are thinking that we are not going to target Naruto-kun in worry of killing him before we can use him. So, in a reverse pyschological since, we should target Naruto-kun. By doing that, Im sure the others will aid him in any way they can. Thus, making them use up their chakra and getting them tired and weary for if they get to the other side of the nexus." said Kabuto

"Hmm... Not bad, Kabuto. You've really thought this through. Fine, lets proceed with the plans. Make sure to change the Nexus's area every so often. We have to give our guests a challenge after all. Konoha will be destroyed soon enough..." said Orochimaru chuckling evily.

Back in the Nexus Zone...

The team continued on through the void nexus zone when suddenly the white space of the zone began to change to a rocky mountaineous area with lightning striking at the ground.

"Whats going on? We're at the mountains now?" asked Naruto.

"Orochimaru changed the nexus zone properties. Be carefull everyone" shouted Kakashi

Rock Lee looked at the rocky path they were now driving on then looked down and noticed that they were driving on the side cliff of a mountain, very high up.

Suddenly, lightning struck infront of Naruto's car, which made him swurve off to the side. Thinking quickly, Naruto turned his wheel and regained control. "Whew... That was close. I almost fell off this mountain" said Naruto continuing to drive.

Suddenly, lightning began to rapidly strike all over the mountain they were on.

"Evasive manuevers everyone!" shouted Gai into the walkie talkies.

Everyone began to swurve and drift out of the way of the lightning bolts as best as they could but the lightning bolts continued to rain upon them... Naruto having the most trouble with his lack of driving know-how. "Darn it." said Naruto still dodging lightning.

Shikamaru continued to slide his car and dodge the lightning while looking over to see Gaara, Lee, Ino and Kiba having little trouble dodging. "This has become quite troublesome" said Shikamaru.

Just when things couldnt get worse, a lightning bolt shot down and grazed the front of Kiba's car, making it circle and swerve out of control with Akamaru on the back holding on, trying not to fall off.

"Kiba!" shouted Naruto as he forgot about dodging lightning for the moment and drove as close to Kiba as he could then reached over to try and grab him. "Kiba! grab on!" shouted Naruto.

Kiba, with one hand, tried to grab Naruto's hand but to no avail...

"Naruto! Reach further!" shouted Kiba... His car began to slip to the edge of the mountaineous trail and, with Akamaru on the back, slipped further and further away from Naruto's car and hand. Another lightning bolt then suddenly shot down, as if on purpose, in between Naruto and Kiba, making Kiba's car fall of the edge.

"NO!! KIBA!!" shouted Naruto as he looked down the mountain for Kiba and Akamaru but had fallen too far down to be seen but an explosion could be heard from his car supposedly crashing to the ground far below. Then, as if on cue, another lightning bold shot down right infront of Naruto's car, making him quickly dodge off to the side. "This troublesome lightning..." thought Naruto as he wanted to go back to see if Kiba was alright.

"Naruto!" shouted Kakashi quickly driving up alongside naruto.

"Kakashi-Sensei!" shouted Naruto in response when he was quickly interrupted with another lightning bolt... but this time, it was going to directly hit Naruto. Naruto looked up and became suprised and shocked that he was about to be hit this time and couldnt avoid it.

Thinking quickly, Kakashi formed a set of handseals then jumped up out of his bumper car, making it drive off the mountain and exploding on contact with the ground below. In the air, Kakashi quickly placed his hands together, "RAIKIRI! (Lightning Blade)" shouted Kakashi as he landing on the hood of Naruto's bumper car and directed his Raikiri jutsu upward to the bolt and making contact with it... splitting the huge lightning bolt in half and away from both him and Naruto.

"That was a close one" said Naruto as he continued to drive and caught up with the others with Kakashi riding on top of the hood as if he were surfing the ocean waves. "Kakashi-Sensei, Kiba... he..."

"He's alright." said Kakashi not bothering to turn around when suddenly, Kiba riding on Akamaru's back, came up behind Naruto's car.

"Hey Naruto! Next time, reach out further! I could have died" said Kiba with a smirk riding the big Akamaru.

Naruto smirked back to his friend and gave a confident snicker to the remark as they finally caught up the everyone.

In the chamber...

Sai continued to think of possible ways of getting out of the trap that they were in. "hm." hummed Sai lightly.

Hinata looking up and at Sai, "Are you a-alright?" asked Hinata

"I think I might know how to get out of here... Its risky though. Very risky" said Sai sweating.

"What is it?" asked Hinata nicely as always.

"These ropes are nothing but snakes. If I remember right, if a snake feels threatened, itll attack. All I need to do is produce that feeling of threat to your snake toward me. That may very well be the only way out of this... "

"What!?" said Hinata shocked to hear what she was hearing him say.

"That way, your snake will leave you unbound and will come after me as well as my snake. That will give you a time span of about 3 seconds to attack them both while theyre attention is on me."

"3 seconds?..." said Hinata worried if she could do such a task. "Alright, Lets try it" she said with confidence.

Sai gave a nod and prepared his ink from his pallet...

Later, Back in the Nexus Zone...

"How long have we been going so far?" asked Ino

"Its been about an hour and a half now" answered Rock Lee.

"Hey! Look there!" pointed Naruto to the far off distance at, what looks like, a red and black swirly object. "That looks like the..."

"The end of the Nexus zone..." said Gaara finishing Naruto's statement.

"Almost there" said Sakura with a glad facial expression.

"Alright! Lets go!" shouted Naruto excitedly... forgetting that Kakashi was still "surfing" on the hood of his car.

Kakashi suddenly became worried, "Naruto! Dont!..." shouted Kakashi as he felt that Naruto's excitement was going to make him do something.

"Hold On Kakashi-sensei!!!" shouted Naruto as he stomped down on the gas pedal like before and shot his car super fast toward the end portal of the nexus... the suddenly thrust in speed making Kakashi fly off the hood of the car. Quickly reacting, Kakashi reached his hand after being thrown off the hood and caught the back trunk of the bumper car and hung on as his legs swung freely behind.

Gai, seeing Naruto speed off with Kakashi hanging onto the back of the car, grinned. "Haha! Thats the spirit! let your youth explode!!!!!!!" shouted Gai as he, too, pressed hard on the gas and shot quickly after them toward the nexus's end. Following soon after, the rest made it to the end of the nexus and went through.

The end of the nexus portal took the team of shinobis to a dark hall within, what looked like, a castle dungeon chamber hall lit slightly with candles. Everyone stopped their cars and jumped out... Kiba jumped off Akamaru and walked up to the rest. The room was big and had four long hallways leading different ways.

"Hmm...four different ways to go" analyzed Shikamaru.

"I wonder where they lead to" said Sakura standing next to Ino.

"We'll split up. That way, we can cover more ground that way." said Kakashi thinking. "Naruto... you and Sakura go that way." said Kakashi forming the mini teams and pointing them to the way they should go. "Shikamaru... you, Ino and Kiba go that way." as he pointed to another way. "Gaara, you and Lee go that way"

"And Kakashi and I will take the last passage way. Remember guys, If you come across Orochimaru or Sai and Hinata, Radio back and alert us." informed Gai.

"Okay. Everyone knows their mission. Now, lets go!" said Kakashi to everyone... And with that, they all seperated as Kakashi ordered.

Naruto and Sakura walked down the East path.

Lee and Gaara walked down the North path

Shikamaru, Kiba and Ino walked down the South path

and Kakashi and Gai walked down the West path.

"Im almost there... dont worry Hinata and Sai... we're coming... and we're coming for you too... Sasuke.." said Naruto in his mind as they reached the chamber doors.

In Orochimaru's chamber...

"They have reached the end of the nexus and are split up now. Each about to go into a different Chamber. Luckily, Naruto-kun and Sakura Haruno are about to enter Chamber 4." said Kabuto with a smirk.

Orochimaru gave a evil chuckle, "The 4th Chamber. The Chamber of Regressed Memories. That will be alot of fun for Sasuke as well" said Orochimaru smirking.

Suddenly, Sasuke walked into the chamber.

"Sasuke-kun... Naruto-kun and Sakura-san are entering the 4th chamber" said Kabuto to Sasuke

"hmph" Sasuke slowly turned around and began to walk to where Naruto and Sakura were going..

"He's on his way there now, Orochimaru-sama."

Orochimaru laughed evily, "Excellent, this will be interesting indeed" said Orochimaru.

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Thats chapter 18. Hope ya liked it. The next chapter will be better. I promise ya. lol Hope ya review and let me know how ya liked it. Next chapter coming soon. Thanks to everyone who left me reviews Too! i appreciate it. 


	19. Traps and Effects

Tunnel of Destined Love Pt 2

**Chapter 19 - Traps and Effects**

Naruto and Sakura walked down the gloomy hallway that was directed of them from Kakashi. They looked around as they walked and saw candles giving some illumination down by the chamber doors. Upon reaching the doors, Naruto and Sakura looked at each other than back at the doors.

"Well, Lets see whats in there" said Naruto as he grabbed the bulky chamber door's handle and pulled it open slowly.

"Right." said Sakura as Naruto opened the doors widely.

Once the doors were open, Naruto and Sakura walked in with caution.

The room was dark... there were no candles or any form of illumination at all.

"Its dark in here. I cant see a thing" said Naruto

Sakura motioned her hands to feel around but it didnt help much. Naruto motioned his hands the same as Sakura but still it wasnt any help.

Suddenly, a flashing white light flooded the room in a instant flash.

"What the?!" yelled Naruto as the light continued to increase.

"I dont know! Its getting too bright" yelled Sakura back to Naruto

The light became totally overpowering and the mysterious white light engulfed Naruto and Sakura into an unknown fate...

At the other chamber door...

Shikamaru, Ino and Kiba continued walking and finally reached their hallway's chamber door.

Ino looked on at the evil foreshadowing door. "I wonder whats in there"

"Well, only one way to find out" said Kiba as he and Shikamaru began opening the doors. Once opened, they slowly walked inside.

"Oh my goodness" said Ino, putting her hands up to her mouth from the shock of what she was seeing.

The room they had walked into was the room where Orochimaru kept his victims for his experiments and his jutsu. Shikamaru, Ino, Kiba and Akamaru walked further into the room and looked through the rails of the cages the people were locked in.

Ino rushed over the cage and looked inside. There were tons of people inside the cage... all looking as if they had been there for a very long time.

Shikamaru walked over to other side of the chamber and came upon a laboratory setting with liquids boiling and books of information opened. "Looks like someone has been performing experiments. Most likely on those people" analyzed Shikamaru.

"Come on. Lets get them out of there" said Kiba as he and Ino began to try and break the giant lock on the prisoners cages.

"So, the nexus failed to kill you guys off" came a voice from the far dark corner of the chamber. "Orochimaru-sama wouldnt like it for you guys to go and free these people."

Shikamaru, Ino, Kiba and Akamaru all jumped together and got into fighting position infront of Kabuto.

"As if I give a damn what Orochimaru wants" said Kiba flicking off Kabuto as Akamaru barked.

Kabuto chuckled, "Now, now... Was that necessary? You should really be more respectful."

"What are you doing with these people?" asked Ino angryly.

"Hmm... I could tell you... but what would be the fun in that? How about this... Lets make a deal." said Kabuto fixing his glasses upon his face.

"What kind of deal?" asked Shikamaru

Kabuto chuckled once more, "If you manage to beat me in a fight, I'll tell you. But, If I beat you guys, you will all become one of them" said Kabuto as he pointed to the dead-looking people in the jail cage. "...Where you will stay for the rest of your lives..."

Kiba grinned with confidence, "HA! 4 on 1. You're okay with a handicap fight? Seems to me that someone here is alittle conceited."

Kabuto kept his smirk, "Im not conceited. Actually I'm far from it. I just have enough knowledge to know my odds and chances. So, enough with the talking. lets begin" said Kabuto getting into a battle ready stance of his own.

Kiba leaned his head slightly over to Shikamaru and Ino, "Think we can take 'em?" asked Kiba.

"We should be able to" said Ino as she placed her hand in her bag and grabbed a shuriken and got ready.

"Lets not waste too much time here." said Shikamaru as he formed a handseal.

Kabuto looked on at the three and Akamaru and smirked evily.

at the other chamber door...

Gaara and Lee both made it to the door...

"Hmm... lets go in" said Lee to Gaara.

Gaara nodded slightly and Lee opened the doors.

Walking inside, Gaara and Lee looked around. This chamber appeared to be nothing more than just an average size roomed with nothing inside.

"Theres nothing here." said Lee looking around.

"Somethings not right" said Gaara.

Suddenly, the chamber doors quickly and mysteriously closed behind them, closing them in the room. Suprised, both Gaara and Lee ran to the doors and tried to open them but to no avail.

"Its not use. We're trapped in here" said Gaara backing away from the door and going to exam the walls some.

"Hmm... Most suspecious..." said Lee as he walked to the other side of the chamber and examined everything.

Suddenly, a trap door opened up on the side of the chamber. Seeing this, Lee and Gaara jumped back far from the wall. From the trap door, great amounts of senbon and shuriken began to fire and shoot out at Gaara and Lee seemingly endlessly.

"Quick, get behind me" said Gaara to Lee seeing the shurikens and needles coming.

Lee quickly flipped behind Gaara. The needles and shuriken drew nearer... Gaara, quickly, motioned his hands and made sand come up from the ground instantly, blocking the rain of throwing projectiles.

After 5 minutes, the needles and shurikens stopped. Gaara, noticing this, put down his sand guard. Lee walked from behind Gaara and stood aside of him. "Well, Looks like the worst is over. We are safe for now" said Lee.

Suddenly, water began to flood into the chamber from the sides of the wall.

"You were saying..." said Gaara as the water began to rise at a steady pace.

"They are going to try and drown us?" said Lee. "What are we going to do now?"

In the last chamber...

Gai and Kakashi wasted no time opening the door and walking inside.

"Stay sharp, Gai" advised Kakashi.

"No problem." said Gai as he looked around the chamber and saw nothing.

Suddenly, a wall suddenly formed in between Gai and Kakashi, seperating them from each other.

"Kakashi?!" called Gai.

"Im still here. It seems that want us seperated" said kakashi thinking when suddenly, a clone of Gai formed on Kakashi's side of the chamber and a kakashi clone formed on Gai's side.

"Whats going on?" ask Gai.

"I dont know" said Kakashi to Gai on the other side. "a clone of you just formed on this side"

"Same thing happened on this side. a clone of you formed" said Gai. "Well... this is strange indeed." said Gai as he got close to the Kakashi clone and examined it.

Suddenly, The Gai clone charged toward Kakashi. The Kakashi clone suddenly threw a punch at Gai.

The two started to fight the clones of each other...

"So this is the trap.." said Gai. "I have to fight a clone of my greatest rival... I dont mind it" said a grinning Gai fighting with the Kakashi clone.

"This is just to keep us busy and to keep us from the others" yelled Kakashi over to the other side where Gai was while fighting the Gai clone.

In the Chamber where Naruto and Sakura were...

Naruto slowly came into consciousness... he was face first on the ground and was now waking up but he didnt feel the same... actually, he felt funny. "where am I" asked Naruto to himself as he slowly got to his feet and looked around. To his suprise, he was no longer in the chamber... he had somehow got to the Valley of the End.

"How did I get here?" said Naruto then something else suprised him... he was in Kyuubi chakra tail level 1 and was back to being a younger kid again wearing his blue and orange attire. "Whats going on here...its as if I went back in time or something?"

"No, you didnt go back in time..." came a voice

Naruto looked around... he recognized that voice... "Sasuke?..."

Just then, Sasuke, in his curse seal level 2 mode walked up to Naruto from his side. Naruto turned to face him...

"Whats going on!?" shouted Naruto. "and where is Sakura-chan?"

"She's still unconsious over there" said Sasuke as he pointed to an unconsious younger Sakura on the ground on the other side of the river.

Naruto looked at Sasuke's face, "How did we get here... how did we go back in time?" asked Naruto.

Sasuke gave a chuckle, "We didnt go back in time... this is the effect of the 4th chamber. The Chamber of Regressed memories... designed to take whoever that enters within the chamber to the moment in their life that they wish they could redo over again the most." said Sasuke.

"I see. So that chamber has allowed me another chance to beat you and take you back to Konoha." said Naruto with his kyuubi influenced face.

"Hmph, one problem... you couldnt beat me then and you wont beat me now." said Sasuke with an evil smirk.

"I have one question...If I beat you, here...will that change the future?... would that me that you would have gone back to Konoha?" asked Naruto

Sasuke looked at the Kyuubi level 1 Naruto, "Yes... That is one thing about this chamber that makes it so special. The future will be changed and none of this will have ever happened... that is... if you can manage to beat me" said a cocky Level 2 Sasuke getting into battle position.

"If thats the case... then I will definitely win this time around!!! Believe It!" said Kyuubi Naruto level 1 getting into a battle stance of his own... both staring each other down and getting ready to redo the determining fight to see if the future will be change...

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Thats chapter 19. I have been busy updating this chapters lately lol. I am sorry to say that i will not be able to update as quickly as these last ones have been. I have been putting things off for awhile and I really have to catch them up. Give me a week or so, Ill have the newest chapter up soon enough. Please review. Thanks for reading. Oh, and one more thing... about Naruto saying "believe it" at the end... I know how that gets on people's nerves, I just thought I would have him say it for that specific situation... lol anywayz, Thanks for the reviews! 


	20. Deceptions

-Tunnel of Destined Love part 2-

**Chapter 20 - DECEPTIONS**

"The water is getting pretty high! Any higher and we'll drown for sure" said Lee as the water in their chamber was so high that they were several feet off the ground.

"I have a plan." said Gaara as he and Lee rose higher from the water rising.

Rock Lee looked at Gaara suprised and listened to what Gaara's plan was.

In the other Chamber...

Kakashi tripped up the Gai clone then uppercutted him high into the air. "Gai! We need to hurry up and get past this trap so we can help the others." said Kakashi

Gai kicked the Kakashi clone into the air then appeared behind him in the air, wrapped his arms around it, then piledrived it into the ground then jumped from the area of impact. The impact caused smoke and dust to cover up the Kakashi clone but Gai still looked on hoping it was over. The smoke cleared and the Kakashi clone was broken into multiple pieces. Gai wiped the sweat from his forehead and smiled. "Hey Kakashi! Im done of this side." said Gai

Kakashi stood looking at the Gai clone recover and stand up slowly. "Hm, then I'll finish it on this side, too." said Kakashi as he performed handseals, then placed his hands downward as lightning began to form. "RAIKIRI!" he shouted as he gathered the energy of lightning into his hand. "Here I go" Kakashi, as quick as always, dashed toward the Gai clone and thrusted the Raikiri forward into the clone's chest. Kakashi then pulled his arm out of the clone as the clone fell to the ground, "Dont take it personally" said Kakashi in a smooth way to the now dead looking clone.

Suddenly, the wall that separated the two rival friends broke into pieces and the dead clones dissolved into smoke.

"Well, thats that. Lets get out of here and find the others before something bad happens" said Gai as he and Kakashi rushed out of the chamber doors.

In the other Chamber...

Kiba smirked as he formed a handseal. "Ready Akamaru!?!? Ino... Shikamaru... Let me and Akamaru handle this scum" yelled Kiba. Akamaru barked in agreeance. Suddenly, Kiba began to twirl in a circle as did Akamaru. "GATSUGA!" yelled Kiba as they spun as if they were miniature tornadoes of claws and soared toward Kabuto.

Thinking fast, Kabuto quickly flipped out of the way of the two spinning cannin campanions then formed the chakra scalpels.

Kiba and Akamaru redirected their Gatsuga attack and went again toward the medical nin.

Sensing them coming once again, Kabuto ran toward the two spinning tornadoes and jumped at them. With that action, Kabuto was cut and struck with the Gatsuga, slightly dodging the more fatal injuries of the assualt. Feeling the attack hit, Akamaru and Kiba both stopped their spinning assault and landed back over next to Ino and Shikamaru as Kabuto fell face first to the ground.

"Haha! We did it, Akamaru!" yelled Kiba as he looked at Akamaru. "Thatll sho-..." Kiba's gloating came to an end abruptly when he began to feel sharp pains in his right arm and his right leg. "Wha...what the?..." Kiba looked over at Akamaru who was struggling to stand as he was struck by the scalpel in his front right leg and back legs. Suddenly, Kiba feel to his knees from the pain of standing.

Kabuto slowly rose to his feet and gave an evil smirk. "I cut your muscle fibers in your limbs with my chakra scalpel. You're as good as done" said Kabuto as he stood up straight once again then reached into his pouch.

Shikamaru analyzed, "I see. He sacrificed himself getting injured in order to get close enough to cut Kiba and Akamaru's muscle fibers. Without their legs and without Kiba's arm... Itll be hard for them to fight... They're fighting just to keep standing let alone being able to fight..." thought Shikamaru.

"So it seems the one with the loudest mouth is the first to fall" said Kabuto chuckling evily at Kiba.

"Damn you" said Kiba under his breath..

"Rest, Kiba. Ino and I will take care of him. Ready Ino?" asked Shikamaru as he looked at Ino.

Ino returned the look and smirked, "Yeah. Ready when you are." said Ino.

"Two down... two to go" said Kabuto in a foreshadowing way.

In the other Chamber...

Naruto and Sasuke stood staring each other down...

"Sasuke... If this chamber will change the future, then you will definitely lose this time" said Naruto in his Chakra tail level 1 kyuubi mode.

"We'll see about that" said the curse seal level 2 Sasuke.

Starting the fight off... Naruto dashed at Sasuke and thrusted his fist at him in a fierce motion.

Sasuke quickly caught the punch and retaliated by throwing a kick at Naruto. Naruto quickly dodge off to the side and flipped his chakra tail around his body and managed to slap Sasuke in the side, sending Sasuke flying back a couple of feet.

Sasuke, flipping back to his feet, flew at top speed toward Naruto with his fist ready to strike him. Naruto dashed back at Sasuke with his fist ready as well...

Their fists clashed and suddenly caused a burst of energy from the impact. From then on, they began to exchange blows, blocks and counters at an incredible speed. Shock waves emitted from the clashes with each punch and block... causing parts of the mountain to break and crumble into the waters below.

"Not bad, Naruto. You actually pose as a challenge this time" said Sasuke in a cocky sarcastic manner as they continued to fight at the speedy pace, blocking and dodging punches as well as throwing some of his own.

"HA! You're definitely going to lose. I will take you back to Konoha" said Naruto as he dodge all the same and threw punches and kicks of his own.

Hearing the explosions of their fists clash at such a high battle level, Sakura suddenly woke up and slowly got to her feet. "Where...Where am I?" she asked herself. Once on her feet, she looked around the Valley. "What happened to Naruto?" she asked herself.

Just then, right on cue, a big clash sound filled the sky as if it was the sound of fireworks sounding and Naruto and Sasuke quickly shot to the ground on opposite sides of the water. To Sakura's suprise, Naruto landed a couple feet away from the pink haired kunoichi.

"Naruto!" Sakura ran to Naruto and kneeled down and examined Naruto as his kyuubi mode faded away and his chakra of kyuubi faded.

Sasuke slowly got to his feet on the other side of the waters and, as Naruto, was knocked out of his curse seal 2 mode and was back to normal.

"Naruto? Are you alright?" asked Sakura helping Naruto to his feet.

"Yeah... I think so" said Naruto finally getting to his feet. "Sasuke... where did he go?" asked Naruto

Sakura's eyes widened, "Sa- Sasuke-kun? He's here?"

"Hmph... looks like we are evenly matched" said Sasuke rising to his feet.

"I will...take you...back...Sasuke" said Naruto.

Sasuke smirked once more, "You dropout. You can't even defend yourself against Itachi. How do you expect to take me back? You cant. Its hopeless. You're not good enough to even fulfill your dream as Hokage" teased Sasuke with a cocky smirk.

Naruto's face turned from calm to angry quickly "Sas...uke!" growled Naruto getting mad... the lines on his cheeks beginning to get thicker.

Back at the chamber with Kabuto...

"Alright Ino! Lets go!" shouted Shikamaru as he formed the Kage Nui handseal.

"Right!" yelled Ino as she threw 2 shuriken at Kabuto.

"Hmph, dont think that mere shuriken will work on me" said Kabuto fixing his glasses then dodged the shuriken easily... the shuriken landing in Kabuto's shadow on the ground.

"Now, you're next to fall" said Kabuto as he ran toward Ino with his fist extended to punch her... even so, Ino did not move.

Kabuto's fist reached closer and closer to Ino when suddenly... it stopped.

"What??!! How?" Kabuto's fist stopped inches away from Ino's face.

"Kagemane Shuriken Trap success" said a smirking Shikamaru. "The shuriken Ino threw at you were not meant to hit you... but to strike your shadow... As long as those shuriken is holding down your shadow... you cannot move"

Kabuto struggled to move but to no avail, "He's right, I cant move" said Kabuto trying to move.

"And now... the finishing blow" Shikamaru moved the shadow tendril he formed at the start and thrusted it toward Kabuto, "you die, now!"

The shadow tendril stabbed Kabuto threw the heart... leaving Kabuto to fall to the ground motionless and dead...

"You did it!" said Kiba holding himself using Akamaru alittle.

Suddenly, Kabuto's body began to decay at a rapid rate and formed a corpse.

"...His body! whats going on?" asked Ino. "It decayed too rapidly to be normal..."

Shikamaru kneeled down to the side of the body and studied it closely, "...This could only mean one thing... This body was not Kabuto's..." analyzed Shikamaru. "He must of used some sort of technique to make an already dead corpse fight as him..."

Kiba began to yell in frustration, "So you mean to tell me we fought against a dead corpse acting as Kabuto? Why would they have us do that? Its pointless"

"No... it bought them some time" said Ino.

"time for what?" asked Kiba

Shikamaru stood up from the dead corpse and walked over to the study area of the laboratory, "for them to get to Naruto..." said Shikamaru reading through the pages then gasped as he happened upon something major. "This is bad..."

"What?" asked Ino.

"Yeah, Whats going on?" asked Kiba

"They had all this planned... all of this from the beginning... we played right into their hands right when we decided to split up and go seperate ways" Shikamaru began to think. "Quick, who did Kakashi-sensei assign to go with Naruto?"

"I think it was Sakura" answered Kiba

"Damn... If my calculations are correct... they should already have Naruto right where they want him..." said Shikamaru grimly.

At Orchimaru's chamber...

Orochimaru chuckled, "It seems that those three figured out our plans" said Orochimaru to Kabuto standing beside him.

"Yes, but it doesnt matter, now. That corpse I set up accomplished it's mission. It even managed to injure 2 of them" said Kabuto fixing his glasses.

Orochimaru chuckled evily once again, "So, hows the progress with Naruto going?" asked Orochimaru

Kabuto smirked and walked up to a strange looking tube connected to a super computer in the room that held an unconscious Naruto within it. "He is doing well." said Kabuto as he looked at the computer's statistics of Naruto's dream.

Suddenly, Sakura, who was tied up on the ground in that chamber, began to awaken slowly. "huh?... where am I?" asked Sakura as she realized she was tied.

"So... you finally woke up from the effect of the chamber of regressed memories" said Kabuto

"What? How did I get here? Answer me!" shouted Sakura to Kabuto. "I was at a valley-like place and now Im here... Whats going on? Is this some kind of Genjutsu?!!" shouted Sakura to Kabuto.

Kabuto smirked, "I guess it wouldnt hurt to tell you." said Kabuto, "The moment you and Naruto-kun entered within the doors of that special chamber, you were engulfed into a blind light"

Sakura's eyes trailed downward as she remembered the blinding light...

"that light was a genjutsu that makes the person who is caught within it to fall straight to sleep. You and Naruto-kun fell straight to sleep as expected once taken by the light. Afterwards, Sasuke-kun brought you two here where I tied you up using a special fiber numbing rope so you cant use your monstrous strength and placed Naruto-kun into the machine there. Anyways, When the person sleeps, they are made to relive the very moment in their past that they wish to change. Also, in that dream of their past, whatever they want to hear, see, or feel to be real, is made real in that dream. In Naruto-kun's case..." Kabuto delayed his sentence and walked over to the machine that imprisoned the unconsious Naruto and pulled a print out sheet from the computer and read it. "... he is dreaming of the moment when he and Sasuke-kun fought at the valley of the end. He has Sasuke-kun telling him in the dream that if he beats him, itll change the future. As if Orochimaru-sama would let Sasuke-kun enter into a chamber that could actually do that." said Kabuto with a chuckle.

Sakura's eyes filled with rage at the new revolution. "What do you plan to accomplish with him?!" asked Sakura with rage.

"I guess I can tell you this last bit of information. We had already figured that the genjutsu of that chamber would make Naruto-kun relive that exact moment he fought for Sasuke at the Valley of the End. Using this computer that has wires connected to his brain wave activities that work his dream, we can manipulate what happens in that dream. At the moment, the computer is having Sasuke in his dream insult him and his dream of becoming hokage. This will eventually get him mad enough to release the kyuubi chakra. If he released the kyuubi forms and chakra in his sleep, it will be released in real time here outside of his dream. Once that happens... the computer will absorb all the released kyuubi chakra. Then we will be able to use that for our master plan." said Kabuto. "Well, I have important matters to attend to. See ya" said kabuto in a cocky manner then left Sakura in that room.

Sakura became mad and suddenly sad as she looked on at Naruto in the computer tube pod with wires connecting to his forehead. "Naruto..."

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Thats chapter 20. I hope that explained some concerns. Lol I just love it when i get a review from you guys and one of you always are super close to guessing what is going on or what an unknown in the story is going to happen. This time it was Danny. So congrats to Danny figuring out that something wasnt right with Sasuke telling Naruto it will change the future. -claps- Anywayz, the next chapter will come out soon. hope you guys review. THANKS! 


	21. Lee & Gaara's Breakthrough

-Tunnel of destined love part 2- 

**Chapter 21 - Lee and Gaara's Breakthrough**

Its been about 15 minutes since the room began to flood... Gaara and Lee were high up due to them floating on the high water level. The water level is so high that their head's are almost touching the ceiling now...

Gaara, swam toward the wall, lifted his hands and motioned them into a fist, all the while tightly clinching it. Suddenly, the wall began to shake slightly. "Just as I thought. These walls have grains of sand within them." said Gaara looking back to Lee.

"So you can break the wall?." asked Lee nodding and staying afloat.

"No. The amount of sand grains at this height of the wall is not enough for me to use." said Gaara. "The highest amount of sand in the wall is at the lower part... submerged in the water"

"So we have to dive underwater for your plan to work, right?"

"Yes. I'll swim down first and loosen up the wall. Count to 10, then swim down. Then you can use your technique and bust a hole big enough for us to escape from this chamber." said Gaara getting ready to dive under water.

"But... we do not know what is on the other side of these walls..." said Lee stopping Gaara.

"We dont have a choice" said Gaara in his calm tone as always then took a deep breathe and dived underwater.

Lee looked on at Gaara swim underwater to a lower part of the wall.

"Okay, 1... 2...3...4..." Lee continued to count.

Gaara reached the lower portion of the wall where the sand was most concentrated and placed his arm out toward it and formed a fist as if he were doing the desert coffin. He clinched his fist and suddenly the wall began to shake more loosely than it did at the top portion.

In the hallway, Gai and Kakashi ran back to the middle of the 4 way halls and looked at each pathway.

"Okay... which way did Naruto and Sakura go?" asked Gai then suddenly noticed water on the ground coming from a pathway. "Water? where is the water coming from?"

"From one of the chambers. Lets check it out" said Kakashi to Gai. Gai nodded and they both rushed down the hallway to the chamber door.

Back in the chamber where Sai and Hinata are...

Suddenly, big booming noises roared from, what sounded like, the next room.

Sai quickly performed a jutsu that made his ink fly from a scroll in his hand to Hinata's snake.

The snake, after being struck with the Ink, instantly slithered off of Hinata and rushed at the tied up Sai. Sai's eyes began to widen as he saw Hinata's snake as well as his own snake prepare to strike him.

Moving quickly, Hinata quickly dashed over to the snakes, formed her chakra lasers from the palm of her hands and sliced off the heads of the two snakes right when their fangs were inches away from Sai's neck. The two snakes dropped to the ground motionless and headless.

Sai wiped off the sweat from his forehead. "That was close.."

"Sorry about t-that... I didnt know you were going to do the plan then" said Hinata.

"Thats the thing... I wasnt" said Sai being helped up to his feet by the long haired hyuuga.

"what happened?" asked Hinata.

"The big booming noise that suddenly just started. It made the snake begin to get uneasy and scared and it looked as though it was going to attack at that very moment. I didnt mean not to let you know but I had to hurry." explained Sai.

"What were those booms anyway?" asked Hinata looking at the wall of which the noises are coming from.

"I dont know... but it sounds as if it's coming from a room on the other side of this wall." said Sai.

Infront of the locked chamber door...

Kakashi and Gai pushed and shoved the door but it wouldnt open. "Its locked" said Kakashi.

Gai pulled back his fist and punched the door hard but to no avail...

"Quick, use your Raikiri to bust it down." said Gai to Kakashi.

"I cant. I used Raikiri too many times as it is. Im almost drained of my chakra." said Kakashi trying to form it but could only manage to form some sparks of electricity.

"Then, lets try the other chamber doors. One of them has to lead to the others" suggested Gai.

"Right. Lets hurry" said Kakashi.

Back in the flooded chamber...

"7... 8... 9... 10" finished Lee. He then took a deep breathe and dove underwater.

Gaara continued to loosen up the old stone like bricks and saw Lee swimming down. He quickly swam out of the way and nodded his head for Lee to do it.

Lee crossed his arms infront of his face. "UNLOCK!" suddenly, Lee's face and body turned a darkish red-brown and vains began to pop up and become visible. He swam over to the wall and pulled back his fist as far as he could then swung it forward with great force...

In Hinata and Sai's chamber...

Suddenly, the wall that was emitting the boom noises suddenly busted open and water began to pour into the room. Sai and Hinata jumped back from the rushing water and, to their suprise, saw Lee and Gaara flush out from the water and landed on the ground. Lee landed on his face and Gaara landed on his back. The water was now at knee length and the rest of the water ran through the room of the chamber's already opened door... leaving the water to be only a foot high now.

"Gaara-san? Lee-san?" said Hinata seeing them.

Lee powered down his gate mode and slowly rose to his knees, as did Gaara; both coughing up some water.

"We did it" said Lee helping Gaara up.

Gaara got to his feet, "Yeah..."

Sai and Hinata walked over to Gaara and Lee.

"How did you guys get here?" asked Sai.

"We are on a mission to rescue you guys. Lets go. We have to find the others" said Gaara as he began to walked out the open door.

Lee nodded, "right. Come on guys."

Hinata and Sai looked at each other and nodded as they followed both Gaara and Lee.

As they ran throughout the hallway, Gaara, Sai, Hinata, and Lee managed to make it back to the chamber pathway of which they started out.

"Okay, now we just need to find Kakashi-Sensei..." said Lee.

"There he is" said Sai pointed to Kakashi and Gai running up to them.

"They got em'" said Gai pointing out Hinata and Sai with Gaara and Lee.

"Good work" said Kakashi to the team of chuunins and the kazekage. "Now we have to find Naruto and the others. I think they went this way" said Kakashi pointing to another pathway.

"Right. lets go" said Gai and they all ran down another pathway that lead to the open chamber doors where Shikamaru, Ino, Kiba and Akamaru were.

In Naruto's dream.

"You're nothing but a dropout. You can never become hokage." said Sasuke taunting him and smirking.

Naruto's anger suddenly transformed him to Chakra tail level 2 mode.

in the chamber...

Sakura looked on at the unconscous level 2 Naruto's chakra being drained from his body..

* * *

And thats chapter 21. hope ya like it. sorry bout the rush but i gotta go to work now. lol hope ya review. See ya!. 


	22. A Suprise Assistance

-Tunnel of Destined Love part 2-

**CHAPTER 22 - A SUPRISE ASSISTANCE**

"Come on guys! We're almost there!" shouted Kakashi to his team of Gai, Gaara, Lee, Sai and Hinata. Once at the chamber door, they entered and looked inside. Shikamaru, still reading the book of Orochimaru's plans, looked up and noticed Kakashi and the others just now entering the chamber.

"Kakashi-sensei!" said Ino with a smile that they all were reunited.

"Kakashi-sensei! Gai-sensei! are we glad to see you" said Kiba with the same smile as Ino.

Shikamaru picked up the book from the laboratory desk and walked over to the group. "You got Hinata and Sai. Great. Thats one problem taken care of" said Shikamaru to Kakashi.

Kakashi nodded, "Gaara and Lee found them. We just caught up to them. Anyways, whats going on?" asked Kakashi.

"We got trapped into fighting what we thought was Kabuto... but it wasnt. It was some sort of body corpse double that looked and fought like him." said Ino.

"I see. So we werent the only ones set in traps." said Gai. "Matter of fact, I was wondering why Gaara and Lee were wet"

"So, did you find something out?" asked Lee seeing Shikamaru reading the book.

"Yeah. Orochimaru's whole plan is written in this book... and it doesnt look good right now." said Shikamaru.

"Tell us everything you know" said Kakashi folding his arms.

Shikamaru nodded and began to explain everything about Naruto's condition and Orochimaru's ultimate goal.

**Back in the room where Naruto and Sakura are...**

"Naruto..." said Sakura slowly as she looked at the unconsious Naruto and his body transforming with 4 tails now flooding the glass pod. Her eyes trailed off at the computer as the little buttons and knobs blinked and moved as it absorbed more of the Kyuubi's chakra.

"I gotta get him out of there" said Sakura to herself as she struggled to use her super strength but couldnt due to the rope's special features. She continued to resist the rope but to no avail. "Its no use... I cant get out of this rope..." she stopped her struggle and continued to look up at the furry Naruto... floating in the glass tube filled with liquid and an oxygen mask strapped to his mouth so he could breathe along with little wires connected to his forehead so the computer could control the dream.

"Naruto! Wake up!" she yelled out. It was no use... Naruto couldnt awaken. "sound proof..." Sakura thought to herself as she lowered her head in giving up.

Just when Sakura had givin up all hope of getting loose of her muscle fiber numbing rope... she began to feel the ropes become loose and fall to the ground, leaving her free to move.

"Huh?... Im free! but how..." she asked herself then looked down and saw what was the cause of her ropes being cut.

"PAKKUN!" she exlaimed as she looked at the nin dog of Kakashi's.

Pakkun gave his normal look and motioned his paw at Sakura to symbolize that it was no trouble.

Sakura picked up Pakkun and smiled holding him up so she could talk to him, "How did you get here?" she asked.

"Me and the rest of the nin dogs have been traveling these chambers for quite some time now. Its like one big maze." said the talking dog.

"Oh... that is right. I remember Kakashi summoning you guys before the Valentines day festival" said Sakura remembering.

"Yeah. Dont worry about Sai and Hinata. Kakashi and the rest caught up with them. I smell their scents together." said Pakkun.

"Thats great! Now we can get outta here" shouted Sakura smiling then looked at Naruto floating in the pod. "But first..." Sakura stopped her statement to put Pakkun on the ground, "I gotta get Naruto out of there"

"How do you plan on doing that?" asked Pakkun.

Sakura clinched her fist and smirked with determination, "Im going to bust him out" she said walking up to Naruto's pod but suddenly stopped when 2 people instantly appeared infront of her...cutting of her path to Naruto and the computer.

Sakura's eyes widened with hate from who she saw appear, "Orochimaru..." she said under her breathe as she completely ignored Kabuto standing next to him. Pakkun stood there aside of Sakura looking at the Sannin and medical nin.

"Hmph... You really think I would leave you here with Naruto-kun" said Orochimaru smirking evily.

Sakura began to worry about her chances of rescuing Naruto now... but nontheless, she stood her ground.

Pakkun looked up at the pink haired kunoichi, "Sakura... Its not looking too good for us..." he said as he then began to look around the room to find an exit... and to his suprise... found an open door right behind them. "Yo... Sakura... lets make a run for it... theres a door behind us..."

Orochimaru and Kabuto began to chuckle evily hearing the dog's whisper.

Sakura looked behind her at the exit then back to Orochimaru and Kabuto. "No... I'm not going to run anymore!" said Sakura remembering the times when she let Naruto and Sasuke down in missions when they were a genin team.

"But...Sakura.." Pakkun stammered then stopped as he shook his head negatively from side to side.

Kabuto smirked and fixed his glasses upon his face then leaned over to say something in Orochimaru's ear, "Orochimaru-sama... We should really be going now. The computer has alittle over 82 percent of the kyuubi power we need. That is more than enough to execute the plan with."

"Yes, we should be getting ready to go to the outside... but first... I want to kill off this one." said Orochimaru as he began to walk up to Sakura.

Sakura began to get nervous seeing the powerful snake sannin approach her in a evil way. Suddenly, he opened his mouth wide and out came his Kusanagi. With the powerful sword sticking out of his mouth, Orochimaru thrusted his head toward Sakura's chest... aiming for her heart. Sakura became frozen in fear seeing the sword come at her with killing intent. The sword drew closer and closer... Sakura, believing it to be her end, just closed her eyes and waited for death when suddenly...

CLINK! a clash of metal of the same caliber blocked Orochimaru's path to Sakura's heart. Sakura, scared to open her eyes and come back to reality, slowly opened her eyes and was shocked at what she saw.

"Sa-Sasuke-kun!..." she yelled happily seeing Sasuke block off Orochimaru's sword with his own.

"Sasuke? What do you think you're doing?" asked Orochimaru as she swallowed the sword back into himself.

Sasuke placed his sword back into his sheathe and stood motionless. "I will take care of things here. Go and do your master plan at Konoha."

Sakura's happyness was instantly shot down from hearing what Sasuke said. "Sasuke-kun?"

Orochimaru smirked, "I see. Always wanting to fight and kill. I guess it cant be helped. Come on Kabuto. Konoha is waiting for our plans to take action." said Orochimaru. Kabuto smirked and they both instantly disappeared out of there.

Sasuke suddenly looked up at Sakura and took out his sword once more then motioned it in the air as if he were going to attack Sakura.

Sakura became sad looking as she knew Sasuke was about to finish the job that Orochimaru started and looked down. "Sasuke-kun... why?..." she asked slowly.

Sasuke looked on at Sakura then smirked in a smooth, non caring way.

"Sasuke-kun... I want you to know... before you kill me... I just want you to know that-" but before Sakura could finish, Sasuke swung his sword, causing Sakura to flinch slightly.

"This is the end..." she thought to herself as she waited for the sword to slice her throat

Suddenly, to her suprise, the sword missed Sakura by inches and suddenly, Sasuke threw his sword at the glass container that was holding Naruto... making it shatter and break and causing the unconsious level 4 furry fox Naruto to fall out of it and land motionless on the floor with the Kyuubi tails fading away and taking Naruto back to his normal state.

Suprised at this, Sakura looked on as Sasuke walked over to Naruto and leaned down to pick him up on his back. "Sasuke-kun?"

Sasuke sheathed his sword once more with the unconsious Kyuubi boy on his back and walked over to Pakkun and Sakura. "Sakura... lets get out of here."

Confused by Sasuke's actions, Sakura nodded and followed Sasuke into the corridors of Orochimaru's hideout to find an exit back to Konoha. As they followed Sasuke, Sakura and Pakkun walked faster and reached the side of him. As she walked, she looked at the side of his face and wondered what was going on. Sasuke, sensing she was looking at him, turned to look at her.

"What?..." he asked as he carried the unconsious Naruto on his back.

"Nothing... its just that... "

"Why are you helping us all of the sudden?" finished Pakkun

Sasuke turned his head back forward, "I have my reasons." he said his normal way.

Sakura could sense something different about him... he was back to normal. He was no longer the new evil Sasuke... He was back to his old Konoha Sasuke-self.

"I wonder what would make him change his mind and leave Orochimaru" thought Sakura but didnt even care the reason... just so long as Sasuke is back.

"What about Kakashi-sensei and the others? We cant leave them." said Pakkun to Sasuke.

"Its already taken care of" said Sasuke.

Outside of the haunted house...

"Are you sure we can trust him?" asked Shikamaru to Kakashi

"Yeah." said Kakashi looking up into the sky as he began to remember what happened and how they got out of there.

**---------------KAKASHI'S MEMORY FLASHBACK OF WHAT HAPPENED PAST 10 MINUTES AGO---------------------------**

Shikamaru finished explaining the plans of Orochimaru in the book he read to Kakashi and the rest...

"Hmm. So they already have Naruto." said Kakashi thinking.

"Most likely." answered Shikamaru.

"Then theres no time to lose. Lets get moving" said Gai.

Suddenly, a person instantly appeared in the chamber with them. "You guys have to get back to Konoha. Orochimaru's plan is complete and his plan is set to destroy Konoha" said the person behind them.

Everyone suddenly turned around and, to their suprise, it was Sasuke.

"Sasuke..." thought Lee.

"Sasuke-kun..." thought Ino.

"Sasuke Uchiha..." thought Gaara.

"Hmph... he thinks he's so cool now" said a smirking Kiba on Akamaru's back.

"And why is that?" asked Shikamaru to Sasuke's statement.

Sasuke stood without answer with a different facial look than his usual one... one that looked somewhat... sincere.

Kakashi stood looking at Sasuke closely... as if he was searching his feelings.

"Answer the question Sasuke... or we will be forced to attack" threatened Shikamaru.

"Lets go guys. We have to get back to Konoha" said Kakashi still looking at Sasuke.

"WHAT!? but... but... We cant trust him!" said Kiba as the others remained silent.

"Alright Sasuke... We'll go back to Konoha and prepare. I need you to find Naruto and Sakura" said Kakashi to Sasuke.

Sasuke gave a slight nod and disappeared out of the chamber.

**----------END FLASHBACK--------------------------------------------------------------**

Back at Konoha... On top of a tall building...

Orochimaru, now with enough power to perform his jutsu, made Kabuto formed the sacred handseals as he motioned the absorbed Kyuubi chakra into the handseals.

"Its complete" said Orochimaru as suddenly, the dead began to slowly rise up out of the ground. In the Mist village... Haku and Zabuza rose out of their graves.

... the three hokage tombs began to rise out of the ground and opened to reveal the first, second and fourth hokage.

... Asuma rose out of his grave...

All the other dead powerful ninjas began to rise as well and gathered around the building Orochimaru was on.

Orochimaru looked down at this huge army of the undead ninjas and smirked as they were already under his control and didnt need the special kunai for this resurrection jutsu. "Its time my slaves. Its finally time... to take down Konoha!"

* * *

And thats chapter 22. I hope ya like it. Its getting closer and closer to the end chapter which i estimate to be about 3 or 4 more chapters left. I hope you guys review too. Special thanks to Mystical-Dreamer57, Danny-171984, Hikari Tsuki and M Warrior for being my top reviewers! You guys are awesome! Thanks to my other reviewers as well. I dont mean not to mention you guys its just that its 1 in the morning and i just got down typing this and theres a heck of a lot of you guys. But thanks! The next chapter to come soon! Oh and I hope Im not spoiling the actual Naruto story/manga for you guys by saying certain things like... Asuma dead. Sorry if I did. 


	23. Konoha's Last Defenses

Tunnel of Destined Love part 2

**CHAPTER 23 - KONOHA'S LAST DEFENSE**

Orochimaru looked down at this evil army of undead ninjas and smirked, "Alright my undead army, begin tearing down Konoha!"

After hearing the command of their master, the undead army began to scatter throughout Konoha, all the while, terriorizing and attacking the villagers. Kakashi, Gai and the others raced from the theme park and hurried back to the village at top speed.

"Look up ahead!" said Lee as they ran through the forest to get to the opening gates of konoha.

Everyone looked to where Lee was pointing and saw something horrible... in the distance, fire, smoke, destruction and people yelling and running in fear can be seen and hear past the konoha gates.

"Lets hurry. Orochimaru has already started attacking" said Gai to his team.

Inside the Orochimaru's lair, Sasuke, carrying naruto, lead Sakura and Pakkun through the maze of the lair and finally made it out of the doors.

"Good. We're finally out of there" said Pakkun.

"Yeah, but we have to get back to Konoha" said Sakura to Pakkun then looked at Sasuke.

Sasuke looked back at Sakura and nodded in approval. "Lets go"

And with that, Sasuke and the others started their way from the lair of Orochimaru toward Konoha.

Now reaching the front gates of Konoha, Kakashi and the others ran in and looked around at the terror that was befalling Konoha and its people. Orochimaru smirked as he looked down to see the team come through the gates.

"So you're finally here." said Orochimaru with a smirk. "Konoha's last line of defense... I will enjoy this" He then motioned his hand at the undead Haku and Zabuza to come and fight. Haku and Zabuza obeyed and walked over to Kakashi and Gai's team and readied themselves.

"I'll handle Haku" said Kakashi then lifted up his forehead protector to reveal his sharingan.

"No... kakashi... I will be your opponent" said Zabuza.

Kakashi was suprised to see that Zabuza could speak even though he was dead. "Zabuza?" he said thinking that Zabuza wasnt under Orochimaru's control.

Orochimaru gave a chuckle, "oh, I forgot to mention... these undead ninjas of mine are able to still talk even though theyre dead.." he then began to laugh evily which filled the air and intensified the air of doom.

"Gai.. Listen up" said Kakashi over to Gai. "I'll take Haku... with his jutsus, he is more of a threat than Zabuza. So, you-" Kakashi's statement was interrupted as a voice began to talk over him.

"I'll handle him" said Neji as he appeared infront of Kakashi and Gai.

"Neji Hyuuga..." said Kakashi getting his attention, "...Alright, but be careful."

"I'll assist him in fighting him" said Lee stepping beside Neji and smiled with a thumps up to Kakashi and Gai.

"Right. You go on and show this kid the power of youth" said Gai as he returned Lee's thumps up with one of his own.

Haku suddenly stepped up and began to form handseals, "You are no match for me" said Haku with an emotionless face.

"Hmph, We'll see about that" said Neji as he and Lee prepared in their own stances.

Just then, Haku stomped his feet on the ground and sharp ice cicles shot up from the ground and pointed at Neji and Lee.

"How did he make ice without water?" asked Lee.

Neji activated his byakugan, "He's using the water from underground"

Haku quickly, without hesitation, motioned his hand, making the sharp ice cicles shoot quickly at Lee and Neji. Moving skillfully as always, Lee and Neji began to dodge and destroy the hundreds of ice cicles coming at them.

Kakashi looked over back to Zabuza who had disappeared suddenly, "where did he go" thought Kakashi. Suddenly, Zabuza appeared behind Kakashi and prepared to slash at him with his sword

Gai, being quick as always, rushed over and jumped in the air at Zabuza, "**Dynamic Entry!**" yelled Gai as he kicked Zabuza away from Kakashi.

"Gai, you handle Zabuza. I'll handle Orochimaru" said Kakashi.

"No..." came a low monotoned voice. "I'll handle him" said Gaara walking up beside Kakashi. "Gai is going to need your help. I'll handle him"

Kakashi looked over at the Kazekage, sighed, and nodded, "alright Gaara. Be careful."

"Ah, I'll help him out" said Shikamaru with his bored look and a slight smirk. "He's going to need it to take him down"

Orochimaru gave a chuckle, "lets see what you two got" said Orochimaru as he suddenly began to melt into the ground using the leech all creation technique. Shikamaru and Gaara both stood ready for Orochimaru's first attack. Suddenly, the ground began to crack and two snakes emerged and flew toward Gaara and Shikamaru. Shikamaru jumped out of the way and Gaara created his Shikaku no tate (ultimate defense) infront of him. Not minding this at all, the giant snake opened it's mouth widely and swallowed the ultimate defense statue infront of Gaara. Gaara stood unshaken with his arms folded and his calm face as he watched his ultimate defense sand object be swalled. Once it was done eating the sand defense, it suddenly flew toward Gaara once more. Shikamaru landed and looked over at Gaara standing there with the snake about to eat him.

"Gaara! Hurry! Move out of the way!" yelled Shikamaru.

Nonetheless, Gaara stood with his arms folded looking up at the snake feet away from himself. The snake's fangs came closer and closer to Gaara but he stood motionless without fear. The snake opened it's mouth wide and prepared to eat Gaara but suddenly stopped 2 feet away from Gaara. The stomach of the snake began to increase and suddenly exploded, blowing the snake up in 2 pieces.

"I get it now" thought Shikamaru with a smirk, "Very smooth Gaara, He wanted the snake to eat his ultimate defense shikaku statue. He placed a bomb inside of it when he formed it.."

As rain of the snake's guts fell to the ground, Gaara looked over at Orochimaru who had just resurfaced. "Is that the best you can do?" he said in his normal way.

Orochimaru chuckled evily, "Very good... I expected nothing less from the Kazekage"

Shikamaru continued to dodge his snake then stopped infront of it and formed his handseal, "Kage Nui" he said as he formed a big sharp shadow tendril and pierced the head of the snake, killing it. "Thats done" he said placing his hands to his side out of the shadow handseal and walked over next to Gaara.

Meanwhile, Sai, Hinata, Kiba, and Ino went to help the villagers, Anbu members and their other ninja teammates with the other undead ninjas.

Back at Kakashi and Gai's fight against the undead Zabuza...

Kakashi and Gai ducked and dodged the wide swings of Zabuza's huge sword strikes.

"Kakashi, we cant spend much time on him. The people need out help" said Gai ducking the sword strike.

"I know. Reinforcements are on their way. Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura...they should be reaching the valley of the end by now"

Hearing this, Orochimaru began to think if Sasuke had turned on him... "He didnt kill her... I see... he has decided to leave the sound... Well I will have to put a stop to that... using the strongest undead ninja I have" thought Orochimaru as he motioned his arm to an undead ninja to symbolize what to do and where to go. Seeing this, the undead ninja nodded his head and suddenly disappeared out of sight.

"This isnt good... " said Kakashi as he saw who Orochimaru sent away and guessed on where he sent him.

Gai looked at Kakashi with a puzzled look, "you dont think... he sent him after Naruto and Sasuke.."

"If so... they may have no chance of winning.." thought Kakashi.

At the valley of the end... Sasuke, Sakura, Naruto and Pakkun had just arrived.

"We have to cross through here" said Sasuke.

"Okay. Lets go" said Sakura as they walked down the walls of the cavern and reached the bottom to where the water separated the land.

Pakkun dipped his paw into the water and shivered, "this water is ice cold." he then looked at Sasuke, "put Naruto down and carry me over to the other side first" he said in a joking way.

"You're a dog... ...dog paddle over." said Sasuke.

"Its too cold. I'll freeze before I even get to the other side. So carry me" said Pakkun again in a joking way.

Sasuke sighed and placed Naruto on the ground then picked up the ninja dog. "You're a bossy little dog" said Sasuke annoyed as he carried Pakkun over to the other side. "Why didnt you just ask Sakura to carry you"

Pakkun looked at Sasuke, "She's been jealous at me because we use the same shampoo, yet, my hair is glossier than hers"

"**I HEARD THAT YOU DUMB DOG!**" said Sakura in a goofy rage.

"See what I mean?. Knowing her, she probably would have dropped me to get my fur wet and smelly" said Pakkun

Upon reaching the other side, Sasuke placed Pakkun down and Sakura walked over with Naruto on her back.

Sasuke nodded, "Alright... now we can-" suddenly, he stopped what he was saying and began to look around as if someone was there.

"Sasuke-kun?... whats wrong?" asked Sakura.

Pakkun began to sniff the air, "someone's here..."

"Who?" asked Sakura.

"I dont know. I cant recognize this scent... but it smells...old...real old"

"How old are we talking?" asked Sakura.

"Like, dead old" said Pakkun.

Suddenly, a foot forcibly kicked Sasuke in the cheek, sending him flying into the water. Sasuke, recovering, climbed onto the water and stood looking at what kicked him as the person appeared standing on the water infront of Sasuke, looking at him. "I knew it" said Sasuke spitting a wad of blood out of his mouth from the kick.

Sakura and Pakkun, still standing on the ground part of the valley, walked from Naruto to get a better look at the person.

"I know him... thats Kakashi's old sensei... the 4th hokage... the Yondaime" said Pakkun in shock.

"The Yondaime..." said Sakura slowly as she recalled Tsunade telling her about him.

Sasuke stood facing the Yondaime on the water, "This has just gotten more troublesome..." thought Sasuke facing the Yondaime.

Suddenly, the yondaime disappeared, leaving only yellow electricity from where he was, and appeared behind Sasuke. Sensing this, Sasuke quickly activated his Sharingan and ducked out of the youndaime's punch but was kicked as a recover attack, sending Sasuke flying once again.

"He's fast" said Sakura to Pakkun

"Thats his special trait. He can go so fast that he can appear and disappear in an instant. But he needs the use of a special tag that he usually places on a kunai."

"But... he is going at that speed without the tag...so how" Sakura stopped her statement as she looked closely at Sasuke's back. "**Sasuke-kun! He placed the tag on your back! Hurry and take it off!**" shouted Sakura as the Yondaime took out a kunai and dissappeared from sight.

Sasuke quickly took of the tag but it was too late, the Yondaime had instantly appeared behind him, ready to stab at the location of his heart.

The time seem like to be moving in slow motion, the kunai began to get closer and closer to Sasuke when suddenly...

A foot kicked the Yondaime away from Sasuke, sending the 4th hokage into the water some feet away from them. The yondaime recovered from the kick and stood once again on the water and looked at who kicked him... Sasuke turned around and saw also who saved his life.

"Hehehe, looks like you could use a hand, Sasuke" said the yellow headed Ninja.

Sasuke smirked, "You loser. Do you always have to be so dramatic?" said Sasuke smirking.

Naruto gave a smirk and chuckled.

Suprised to see this, Sakura and Pakkun quickly turned around to where Naruto was laying on the ground and finally noticed that he wasnt there anymore.

Sakura smiled, turning back to the fight, "**Naruto! he's awake!**"

Pakkun smirked, "That Naruto... always coming at the last minute. Thankfully he was on time though. Another second and Sasuke would have died."

Naruto smirked and looked at the Yondaime, "Wow... he sorta looks like me after all" said Naruto looking. "Anyways, that doesnt matter. Come on, Sasuke, Lets take this guy down!" shouted Naruto excited to be fighting along side his best friend.

Sasuke smirked, "Alright. Lets do it"

And with that, the face off was ready to began... Naruto and Sasuke stood ready to fight the famous and powerful Yondaime...

* * *

and thats chapter 23. How ya like it. We are getting pretty darn near close to the end of this story now.. Hope ya review. Thanks! Tell me how ya like it so far. 


	24. Clash of Titans

Tunnel of Destined Love Part 2

**CHAPTER 24 - CLASH OF TITANS**

****

Naruto and Sasuke stood on the settled water of the Valley of the End looking on at the undead 4th hokage. Sakura and Pakkun stood on the jagged rocks on the sidelines watching the grand face off.

"So Sasuke... whats the plan" asked Naruto still looking at the Yondaime.

"There is no plan" said Sasuke never taking his eyes off of the Yondaime, "But... this guy is good. He is really fast... and if he gets one of these special tags on you, he is even faster" said Sasuke has he crumbled up the tag from his back and threw it in the water.

"The Yondaime... Ero-senin told me about him... the 4th hokage..." then it finally hit Naruto, "Wait.. I thought he was dead?" he looked back at Sasuke with the eyes-closed fox confusion face he always did when he was confused.

"While you were sleeping, they took some energy from the kyuubi and revived him along with about 100 more dead ninjas. Kakashi and the others have already gone to protect konoha." said Sasuke placing a hand on his kusenagi sword on his back.

"I see." said Naruto facing the 4th again. "Well, if the others need us, then we cant stay around here for too long." said Naruto clinching a fist then ran at the 4th with full speed. Sasuke stood where he was and waited to see what Naruto would do.

Once Naruto got into range of the 4th, he swung a right hook... the 4th easily dodged

"Damn it!" said Naruto as he kept his punching barrage going... the 4th dodging every punch easily.

Naruto stopped his punching barrage and jumped up, then swung his foot to kick the 4th but to no avail... the Yondaime caught his kick and began to spin him around. Once at top speed, the 4th let go of Naruto's leg which sent him high into the air in a diagonal. In a flash, the Yondaime quickly took out another tag and threw it at Naruto, landing on his back. Suddenly, the 4th instantly disappeared and reappeared above Naruto still in the air from the swinging and punched Naruto downward in a double fist thrust... sending Naruto fast downward into the waters below and making a big splash.

The Yondaime landed on his feet on the surface of the water and remained silent.

Naruto climbed onto the surface of the water and managed to stand up. "This guy is no push-over" said Naruto standing up; "But neither am I!" shouted Naruto as suddenly, a clone popped out of the water from behind the Yondaime with a Rasengan in hand. "RASENGAN!" shouted the clone as it pushed it forward at the Yondaime.

Acting quickly, the Yondaime instantly placed his arm to the side and formed a Rasengan of his own. "Rasengan!" shouted the Yondaime.

Naruto, alittle suprised to see him form the rasengan, thrusted his forward as did the Yondaime.

The rasengans clashed together making a giant windy shockwave occur in the waters. Sasuke placed his arms over his face to shield from the wind, "Did he get em?" asked Sasuke attempting to look through the smoke of the collision.

"YOU DID IT! NARUTO!" shouted Sakura on the side with Pakkun.

The smoke cleared... revealing Naruto soaring in the air spiraling from being hit with the Yondaime's Rasengan. Naruto landed in the water and made a splash once again.

"Naruto's attack was neutralized by his... and he was even able to sustain his attack long enough to attack Naruto... this guy..." thought Sasuke.

The Yondaime looked over at Sasuke and Sasuke grabbed his sword once again.

Just then, Naruto resurfaced and stood up from the water. "That hurt...alot" said Naruto recovering from the rasengan. "Geez... my suprise attack couldnt even phase him... Im going to have to use that jutsu..." said Naruto as he stood up.

"Naruto... Surely you can do alot better than that" said the Yondaime.

Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura and Pakkun all began shocked to hear the Yondaime's voice as well as him talk to Naruto.

"Wha... What?" stammered Naruto. "You dont even know me! So dont even think that you know-"

"I know a great deal about you...Naruto Uzumaki" interrupted the 4th.

Naruto's eyes grew bigger, "How-how do you..."

The Yondaime gave a slight chuckle, "I'll only tell you if you can beat me." teased the Yondaime.

Naruto began to feel weird... as if he was fighting more of a friend than an enemy... "Fine! Then I'll just have to beat you then"

The Yondaime smirked, "You may need the Uchiha kid to help you out as well... at both of you guy's level, it wont be easy to take me on" teased the past hokage.

Naruto smirked and got to his feet now getting his second wind, "No thank you. I can take you all myself" said Naruto smiling.

"Who said I would let you. You can hog all the fun" said Sasuke walking up to Naruto's side. "This guy is far more powerful than anyone I've ever faced. He may be even stronger than my brother... By taking him on, I can see how I would match up with Itachi" said Sasuke smirking.

"You had your chance, Sasuke, you lost... now its my turn" said Naruto folding his arms.

"You lost too or did you forget what beating you took on 10 seconds ago" said Sasuke recalling Naruto getting punched into the water and getting blasted by the rasengan.

"Hmph... You just want to show off... as usual" said Naruto facing Sasuke with his im-being-annoyed-by-you look.

"You'll just get in my way... as usual" said Sasuke facing Naruto with the same annoyed look.

"Why dont you just go over there with Sakura and Pakkun...Sasuke-CHAN and let me handle this fight"

"Why dont YOU go over there with Sakura and the dog and let the real man fight" said Sasuke

"How about after I'm done kicking his ass, Im going to kick your ass" said Naruto in the goofy annoyed emotion.

"Correction... after he's done kicking YOUR ass, I'll kick his ass then kick your ass again" said Sasuke in the same emotion.

"Oh yeah, We'll lets see you try it, Sasuke" said Naruto clinching his fist

"Bring it on, Idiot" said Sasuke.

"You think you're SOOO cool dontcha" said Naruto

"You're an eye swore" said Sasuke

An anime sweatdrop appeared on the Yondaime's head as he watched the two friends have their goofy rage argument, "You two argue like an old married couple" said the Yondaime with a chuckle.

Naruto and Sasuke stopped their argument and faced the 4th.

"Okay, Lets work together" said Naruto in position.

"Fine..." said Sasuke as he got into position as well.

"Lets see what you two can do" said the Yondaime as he readied himself.

"Lets show him our true strength" said Naruto with a clinched fist.

"Right. Ready when you are" said Sasuke nodding.

Suddenly, Naruto and Sasuke dashed toward the Yondaime and threw punches and kicks toward him. The Yondaime smirked and blocked and dodged the onslaught of punches from Sasuke and Naruto easily.

"You guys need to work together if you plan on beating me" said the Yondaime as he held the last punch of Naruto and the last kick of Sasuke then round house kicked Naruto back and uppercutted Sasuke upward in the opposite direction.

Naruto flipped to his feet and landed on the water... Sasuke twirled in the air and managed to land on his feet also...

"Hmph... you want teamwork... you got it!" shouted Naruto as he formed a handseal. He then looked over at Sasuke in which Sasuke nodded to what Naruto was planning on.

"Do you two even know what teamwork means?" asked the 4th in a goofy way.

"You'll see. Kage Bunshin No Jutsu!" Naruto suddenly formed 3 clones that appeared around the 4th hokage.

Naruto suddenly dashed at the hokage, jumped, then punched him in the face,

"U..." said Naruto as the hokage flew back some from the punch. Sasuke, seeing this, ran up and jumped up on that Naruto's back and flipped up into the air.

"Zu.."

"Ma..."

"Ki..."

The three clones all slid under the 4th and kicked him high into the air. The Yondaime flew into the air slightly holding his stomach where the clones had kicked him then looked up...

Sasuke, coming down from flipping up, punched the Yondaime once then twice then swung his leg down forcibly, knocking the Yondaime downward with great force into the water below...

"Shishi Rendan!" yelled Sasuke as he knocked the 4th downward, crashing and making a big wave from the impact.

Sasuke landed opposite of Naruto.

"The Uzumaki-Shishi Rendan Combination Technique" said Sasuke and Naruto with a smirk thinking that their new found combo collaberation technique was enough to beat him.

Suddenly, all of Naruto's clones began to scream as if they were being attack and poofed.

"Huh?...What happened?" asked Naruto.

Just then, the 4th hokage instantly appeared in the smoke of the dispersed clones with the sparks of a couple yellow lightning flashes around him for a couple seconds.

"I see. He place tags on each of the clones as they kicked him..." analyzed Sasuke. "Usually, when lightning flashes around him like that, its because he just used that speed technique of his"

"A combination of two taijutsus. Not bad... but not good enough" said the Yondaime walking toward both Naruto and Sasuke.

"Looks like I have to use the Chidori" said Sasuke as he formed handseal then formed the lightning attack.

Naruto placed out his hand once more and formed another Rasengan.

The Yondaime smirked some more as he walked toward Naruto and Sasuke, "The chidori... Kakashi must have taught you that. The rasengan... Jiraiya-sensei taught you..."

"Ready Naruto?"

"Ready..."

Suddenly, Sasuke and Naruto charged at the 4th hokage. Once in range, they thrusted their respective attacks at him.

"RASENGAN!" Shouted Naruto.

"CHIDORI!" shouted Sasuke.

The two attacks caused a giant shockwave of water to rage once the attacks made contact. Sakura shielded her face from the wind and tried to look forward to see if they got him.

The Yondaime smirked as he caught the wrist of both Naruto and Sasuke. "Nice try guys... but" just then, the Yondaime threw both Naruto and Sasuke by the wrist and send them crashing into the water behind him. "not good enough..."

Both Naruto and Sasuke resurfaced and got to their knees ontop of the water tired and alittle out of breath.

"So... thats where Kakashi learned to grabbed our wrist whenever we charged him with the Chidori and Rasengan..." said Sasuke remembering Kakashi doing the same thing when they attempted to hit him with the Rasengan and Chidori and when they were ontop of the hospital.

"I remember when Kakashi tried to use the chidori on me for the first time in a training session back when he was about your age." said the 4th with a smirk. "I did the same thing to him"

"This guy is just toying with us" said Sasuke getting angry.

"Yeah... he didnt even break a sweat." said Naruto smirking. "Looks like I'll have to use that attack..." said Naruto getting to his feet. "But I'm going to need some time to prepare it..." said Naruto looking on at the 4th."

"How much time?" asked Sasuke.

"Im not sure... " said Naruto.

"You idiot.. how do you expect to get time.."

"I'm going to need you to hold him off while I prepare it..." said Naruto.

Sasuke growled lowly then looked at the smirking Yondaime, "Alright, Just hurry up." said Sasuke

Naruto nodded and formed a handseal, "Kage bunshin no jutsu" said Naruto as 2 clones formed next to him. Naruto placed out his hand and one clone formed the rasengan... the other merging it with wind manipulation... something the Yondaime couldnt do.

The Yondaime looked at Naruto and became shocked at what he was seeing... "Tha...thats the...He's putting wind manipulation into the rasengan..."

"Im taking this Rasengan to the next level... something not even you could do." said Naruto as the clones began to work on transforming the Rasengan to it's true form.

The Yondaime smirked, "Interesting... so he was able to surpass me in developing the rasengan to it's true form... Im curious to see how it turns out" thought the 4th... "But... I can sense that he is running slightly low on chakra and he's body is weary... will he be able to?"

"Hurry, Naruto, I'll keep him away as best as I can." said Sasuke as he charged the 4th.

The Yondaime looked on at Sasuke charge him then ran toward Sasuke throwing a punch. Sasuke quickly dodged and jumped off to the side then sweep kicked at the Yondaime in which it tripped him up. He then placed his hand on the water and flipped up and kicked at Sasuke's head in which Sasuke put up his arm and blocked. The Yondaime then flipped behind Sasuke and bear hugged him.

Suddenly, Sasuke made the chidori lightning shoot from his body, shocking the Yondaime and releasing the bear hug. Sasuke flipped back some distance and fell to one knee out of breath. "He's making me use up my chakra at a fast rate... I was able to break free from him using the Chidori Current but i dont know how long i can keep this up."

Naruto's rasengan began to fade in his hand, "Damn it... I'm too tired to form it... and I'm about out of chakra...what am I going to do now" thought Naruto. Naruto struggled with his rasengan but couldnt sustain it and it finally dissolved.

Sasuke looked behind himself to see the progress Naruto was making and saw that he wasnt making any, "What are you doing? I cant hold him off forever" yelled Sasuke to Naruto.

"I dont... know... It... wont form.." said a tired, out of breath Naruto with his two clones.

"Whats going on? Naruto can't form the Rasengan?" said Pakkun.

"He has been through alot today... he's worn out.. any normal person would be out cold by now but somehow Naruto is still able to fight... after all he's been through today... Also, he's using his chakra to stay afloat on the water... he struggling just to stay conscious " said Sakura worried.

"What are we going to do, Sakura?" asked Pakkun.

Sakura began to put her black gloves on, "I wont just be a hindrance...I'll do my best and help" said Sakura.

"But Sakura... Naruto and Sasuke together couldnt even beat him... If you go out there..."

"I know... but I have to atleast try" interrupted Sakura as she then ran out into the water battlefield

Naruto stood out of breath and tired still trying to form the Kazengan. "Damn it..." he said as he fell to his knee out of breath.

"Naruto... how much longer are you going to need?" asked Sasuke then looked behind himself and noticed Naruto about to pass out. "Naruto!" shouted Sasuke when suddenly the Yondaime appeared infront of him and shoved a Rasengan into Sasuke's stomach, sending him flying into the side of the cavern rocks. The impact of Sasuke flying into the mountains caused a rock slide, burrowing him under rocks.

"Never take your eyes off the opponent" said the Yondaime as he then turned his attention to the tired Naruto dropping to his knee and hands on the water breathing hard with one eye closed and sweat dripping steadily.

"Looks like its the end of the line... thats too bad.. I was looking forward to seeing the finished form of the Rasengan." said the evil Yondaime as he walked closer and closer to Naruto.

Once in range, the Yondaime pulled out a kunai and pulled it back to stab Naruto when suddenly a fist swung at him... causing him to jump out of the way and away from Naruto.

Sakura recovered from her missed punched and stood infront of Naruto ready to protect him.

"Interesting... Looks like Naruto has made some great friends" thought the Yondaime secretly as if he werent evil.

"I'll fight you with my power and protect my friends with my own two hands" said Sakura determined.

The yondaime smirked, "Good, lets see what you got"

Naruto managed to lift his head up and saw that Sakura was about to take on the Yondaime and saw where Sasuke was knocked to in a pile of rocks. "Sa...Sakura-chan... " said Naruto struggling to maintain his hold on consiousness.

* * *

And thats chapter 24. Thanks go out to RasenganFin for giving me a good name to name this chapter! Hope you like it. Oh, and I dont know if the 'true form of the Rasengan' is really called the Kazengan but I figured I'd use the name seeing as I dont have anything to call it. lol Hope you guys and girls review! I love reading them. Next chapter coming soon. 


	25. Pushing to the Limit

-Tunnel of Destined Love pt 2-

**CHAPTER 25 - PUSHING TO THE LIMIT**

Sakura stood ready upon the now stilled water facing the fourth hokage. She clinched her fist as he stood looking at her with an unconcerned face. Sakura's brow twitched slightly from the intimidation of facing against a legend.

Pakkun stood looking on from the rocks on the side, "Sakura... We'll she be able to do this?..." Pakkun said then looked over to Naruto then at Sasuke in the rocks unconsious, "Come on...wake up guys.. Sakura needs you" he sweated in worry.

"Come..." said the fourth as he moved his finger back and forth to indicate for her to charge him.

Sakura, thinking first of her times of being a hindrance to Naruto and Sakura, charged the 4th at top speed and pulled back her fist.

Naruto struggling hard to muster up some chakra, rose his head out of breath and looked on as Sakura charged the 4th. "No...Sa..Sakura-chan..." he placed a hand down on the water and began to try and push himself up to his feet but to no avail.

Once in range, Sakura pulled back her fist and swung it at the fourth in which he dodged. The fourth, flipping into the air above Sakura, kicked at her head in which she ducked close to the water to avoid. After the missed kick, the 4th landed back to back with Sakura. Thinking fast, Sakura turned around and threw a right punch to the 4th in which he dodged once again by jumping above Sakura. While in the air, the 4th threw a special tag at Sakura's back in which she activated her chakra scalpel quickly and sliced it in half before it could make contact with her back. The fourth landed on his feet once more and faced Sakura. Sakura stood facing the 4th hokage with determination.

Naruto lifted his head once more with widened eyes at the rate of which Sakura is fighting against the 4th. "Sa..kura-chan..."

Sakura turned her head slightly to face Naruto getting to his knees but stumbling back face first on the water's surface, "Naruto... Dont worry. When it comes to fighting for friends..." Sakura clinched her fists tightly, "I wont lose!" she took out 2 kunais, one with a tag, and threw them at the 4th hokage.

Not concerned with this petty attack, the 4th easily caught the first kunai and used it to deflect the second.

Sakura smirked at this happening, "yes... " she whispered to herself.

"Hmm?" the 4th hokage looked on at the Kunai he held in his hand and came to the realization of why she was smirking. The clash of the two kunais flared a spark that ignited the tag of the kunai in his hand.

"Boom..." she said lowly then suddenly, the tag exploded on the 4th... making a giant smoke cloud fill the area around him.

Sasuke, coming to consciousness, awoke to see the explosion, "Sakura?... She did that?" he thought to himself.

Naruto lefted his head some, was suprised that Sakura had done it. "Good job... Sakura-chan" he said with one eye open still from being battle weary.

A couple of minutes later, after the smoke cleared, the fourth hokage stood unharmed with a neutral expression on his face. "not bad... not bad at all" he said to Sakura. "I'll say... your doing better than Naruto and Sasuke. It seems that you are more powerful when it comes to saving your friends..."

Sakura stood without word, readying herself for round two. "I knew that wasnt going to be enough to take him down... what now?" she thought to herself.

The yondaime started to walk toward Sakura and reached into his pouch. He took out shuriken and threw them at Sakura then dashed toward her in high speed.

Shocked at his movements, she hurried and took out a kunai to deflect the shuriken but was stuck in the arm with 2 of them, making her drop her kunai. She hurried once more and pulled out the two shuriken then looked for the yondaime but he was gone from sight.

"Huh...where did he go?" she thought as she looked around for him.

Pakkun yelled out to her, "Sakura! below you!" he yelled to signafy that he dove underwater when she wasnt looking.

Moving quickly, she looked down just in enough time to see a fist thrusting upward from the water towards her chin as Naruto did when he fought Neji in the chuunin exam. Having somewhat of a quick reflex, Sakura leaned back into a backflip, thus dodging the suprise uppercut chin attack by inches. She continued her backflip from her hands on the water back to the final flip to her feet on the water once more.

"That was too close..." she said then began to remember where she saw someone do that... "Naruto... he did the same thing to Neji..." she thought remembering how they were similar in the suprise attack.

Suddenly the 4th hokage disappeared with yellow lightning being left behind. Sakura's face become shocked with fear as she realized he must have a tag on her. She quickly began to try and find it but it was too late... The 4th was already behind her with a kunai up to her neck. Sakura began to think of how he got a tag on her when she wasnt looking then realized that he must of thrown one of her back when she backflipped out the way of the chin uppercut.

"You fought well... but its over" the yondaime said to Sakura as he drew the kunai closer to her neck.

"No! Sakura-chan!... " exclaimed Naruto still trying to get to his feet, this time getting to one knee.

"Gotta...help her out..." said Sasuke as he reached into his pouch and pulled out a demon wind shuriken slowly. He quickly snapped it open, "Sakura! Duck!" yelled Sasuke emerging from the rocks then forcibly threw the giant shuriken at the 4th hokage.

The 4th hokage, suprised to see Sasuke back to his feet barely, moved away from Sakura in enough distance to catch it in time. He then looked on at Sasuke and threw it back at him with even greater force.

Pakkun yelled over to Sasuke, "Sasuke! Watch out!"

Sasuke, attempting to dodge out of the way, fell to one knee from his damage from the rasengan, breathing hard. Knowing he couldnt dodge it, he quickly reached behind himself and grabbed his Kusenagi and sliced threw the giant shuriken in two pieces. After slicing the shuriken in half, Sasuke fell to his knee tired. "That was too close..." he thought.

The yondaime looked at Sasuke with a calm expression, "Hmm He knew he couldnt dodge it in time... so he cut through it...clever" then suddenly his thought was interupted when suddenly Sakura grabbed his arm and smirked.

"Never take your eyes off the opponent" she said then swung him around then launched him straight into the air. After making the yondaime go airborne, Sakura flinched from the two shuriken cuts on her arm. She quickly formed her handseal, making green energy emerge from her hand then placed it on the cuts... healing them. Recovering from being thrown into the air, the yondaime began to fly back downward toward Sakura while forming a rasengan in his hand. "Rasengan" shouted the Yondaime as he fell closer and closer to Sakura.

Seeing this, Naruto managed to stand on both feet but then fell back to one knee, "Sa...Sakura-chan! Run!" shouted Naruto.

Sakura could only look on in fear at the descending Yondaime with a rasengan in hand coming at her. Suddenly, a moment flashed into her mind... the moment when she promised Tsunade that she would always do her best and not be a hindrance to her friends anymore.

After remembering this in an instant, her facial expression changed from fear to determination as she clinched her fist and pulled it to her side. The yondaime, once in range, thrusted the Rasengan downward at Sakura. Sakura, ready to strike looking upward, thrusted her right fist up at the Yondaime... Suddenly, a giant gust of gale force winds began to cause the waters to go crazy. The result of the clash was blinded to Naruto and Sasuke as they shielded their eyes from the wind. After the winds died down, Sakura flew from the smoke unconsious, going toward the rocky walls in a dangerously fast rate.

Just then, before Sakura could hit the rocky walls, Sasuke jumped in the way and caught her into his arms but slid back, making his back hit the rocks hard. Sakura, opening her eyes, looked up to see Sasuke looking down into her eyes.

"Sasuke-kun..." she said slowly as she began to drift out of consiousness once more. Sasuke, managing a smirk, looked down at Sakura unconsious then placed her down on the ground lightly. Pakkun ran over to her.

"She...she'll be okay..." said Sasuke to Pakkun out of breath.

Pakkun looked up at Sasuke, "Are you alright? You hit the rocks pretty hard."

Sasuke's eyes began to flicker as he fell to his knees then onto his face. "I... cant move...I used up most of my chakra to make it in time to catch Sakura" said Sasuke tired.

The smoke from the clash began to clear, revealing the yondaime standing with an unharmed look on his face but something was different...

Naruto became suprised at the sight of the yondaime.. "He...he...Sakura-chan punched a hole through him!" he shouted. The yondaime looked downward and notice a hole in him where Sakura must have punched through him.

"I see... so she was able to dodge out of the way of the Rasengan just in enough distance for her to punch a hole in me... but since she was so close to the rasengan still... the effects of it still blasted her away." the yondaime thought. "Well... she did pretty good. But it would seem that all of them are at their limits..."

The Yondaime looked toward Sasuke and the unconsious Sakura with a whole still in him, "Its been fun... but this is where it ends..." said the yondaime with a smirk. "After I'm done killing you guys off, I can go back to Orochimaru's side and finish the destruction of Konoha... along with it's people."

"**I DONT THINK SO!**" yelled a voice.

The Yondaime, being suprised to hear this, turned to his side and saw Naruto to his feet.

"I wont let you...destroy Konoha!... I'll fight for everyone..." said Naruto tired but determined then an image of a beautiful long haired hyuuga girl flashed into his mind, "...I cant die here! **I WONT DIE HERE**!" exclaimed Naruto.

Suddenly, winds began to pick up around him, making the Yondaime's hair blow wildly, "What is this wind? Where is it coming from all the sudden" he said to himself.

Sasuke managed to look up and at Naruto, "This is...Naruto?" he asked himself like he always did when he saw Naruto do something amazing.

Pakkun, watching over an unconsious Sakura, turned to see Naruto, "Naruto... "

Sakura, in her unconsious state slowly muttered the words, "Naruto... "

Naruto stared on into the eyes of the Yondaime with fearless eyes. He crossed his fingers in the shape of a plus sign, "**KAGE BUNSHIN NO JUTSU**!" he shouted, making 2 clones appear next to him. The Yondaime's eyes widened with suprise.

"Where is he drawing this energy from? Is he using the Kyuubi?" The yondaime thought.

Naruto put out his right hand then the two clones began to motion their hands above it... starting to form the rasengan first... the other clone, taking it further...

"He's doing it... " the Yondaime thought. "So, lets see what you got!" exclaimed the Yondaime as he placed his right hand to his side and began to form the Rasengan.

Suddenly, in Naruto's hands, the Futon Rasengan began to form. Once formed completely, he dispersed the two clones and held onto the Futon Rasengan ready to strike.

The Yondaime and Naruto stared each other down for a moment then charged each other while yelling. Once in range, the Yondaime thrusted the Rasengan toward Naruto. Naruto thrusted the Futon Rasengan toward the Yondaime's Rasengan and they both clashed making a power struggle occur.

"I Wont Let You Win!" said Naruto shouting in rage as the Futon Rasengan began to destroy the Rasengan in the Yondaime's hands. The Yondaime became suprised at this then was impaled in the chest by Naruto's finished Rasengan. Suddenly, a wind spiral began to circle the Yondaime's body, encasing him in a sphere of high cutting winds that cut and shredded the Yondaime's body all over. After a moment of being cut up by the Wind Rasengan, the blast sent the Yondaime hurling toward the other side of the rocky cavern and crashed him into the rocks hard by gale force winds.

As the gale winds raged throughout the valley, it became very hard to breathe. Sasuke began to gasp as he couldnt breathe then looked down onto Sakura struggling to breathe in her sleep. Seeing this, Sasuke motioned himself over Sakura to block the strong winds from her. Pakkun held his breath and shielded his eyes with his paws from the raging winds.

Sasuke and Pakkun then managed to look on with widen eyes, "He...He did it.." they said in unison. Sakura's eyes began to flicker open slowly.

After hitting the rocks, the wind rasengan let off of the yondaime, leaving his body engraved into the side of the mountain unconsious and battle damaged. Naruto limped over to the rocky side of the valley and faced the Yondaime's unconsious body. He looked closely at him wondering some things to himself. Suddenly, the Yondaime managed to open his eyes slowly.

"Na...Naru...to..."

Naruto continued to look on at the Yondaime

"Naruto...I-im impressed... You were able to use the...finished form of the Rasengan... in that condition..."

Naruto fell to one knee from his loss of chakra and began to breathe hard in maintaining his conscousness once again... his eyes flickering open and closed and his head becoming heavy.

"Im truely happy to see the finished form of the Rasengan... I thank you for that..." said the Yondaime as his body began to decay from the cuts and began to blow in the wind. The decaying began from his feet and began to blow away from them to his knees then to his waist and chest.

"Im proud of you...My son..."

Naruto lifted his head thinking he heard him being called 'son' and looked at the Yondaime's head and body finally decay and blow into the wind... being put back to death. Naruto, finally giving in, passed out from exhaustion.

"Did he ...call me ...son? ... or am I...just imagining it..." thought Naruto in a daze of subconsciousness then finally passed out to a slumber.

Pakkun looked over Naruto passed out on the ground on the other side of the valley's lake and smiled warmly, "You did it... Naruto..."

* * *

And thats chapter 25. I left the ending in a mysterious sort of way. Thats to please both the people who believe Naruto is the son of the Yondaime and the people who dont believe it. Did naruto really hear the Yondaime call him his son? Or was it just Naruto's subconsiousness playing with his mind? Its all in what you believe I guess. Thats for you to decide. The next chapter will go back to Konoha's last defenses fighting against Orochimaru and his army. Naruto, Sakura, Sasuke and Pakkun, now done with the Yondaime, can heal up and contnue on to Konoha, but will they make it in time to help... will they be able to help? Find out on Chapter 26! Coming sooner than this one did. lol. PLEASE REVIEW!! Thanks. The end of the story is near! sad to say. only 2-3 more chapters left to go! 


	26. Better Late Than Never

-Tunnel of Destined Love pt 2-

**CHAPTER 26 - BETTER LATE THAN NEVER**.

"Wa...where...where am...I" Naruto stammered as his eyes slowly began to open. "Am...I ...dead?..." his eyes flickered slowly open then lowered then slowly opened again. Through his blurry vision of coming to consciousness, he managed to see a warm green glow ontop of his body. "a warm...green glow of chakra..."

"Naruto..?" a voice called to him.

Having gained full conscousness now, Naruto's eyes finally flickered opened widely and looked at the source of the warm green glow. "Sakura-chan?..."

Sakura's hands, full of green medical chakra, smiled as Naruto finally came to and deactivated her medical green chakra. "Naruto! You're awake!"

Naruto sat up and blinked as he rubbed the back of his head. "How long was I out for?"

Sakura stood up and helped Naruto to his feet, "for about 20 minutes... That last attack of yours must of took alot out of you. I'm suprised you had enough chakra to do it at all considering all you've been through today." said Sakura.

Naruto looked at Sakura then looked at the surroundings, "Where's Sasuke and Pakkun?"

Sakura pointed upward to the top of the valley at Sasuke and Pakkun talking from a distance.

Naruto then looked up and saw them then slowly remembered when he beat the Yondaime with the Fuuton Rasengan. He looked at Sakura with his puzzled fox curiousity look, "Hey... Sakura-chan?"

Sakura looked at Naruto, "hmm?"

"Did you happen to hear... when I was fighting the Yondaime...did you hear him call me... son?" asked Naruto slowly.

Sakura looked at him puzzledly, "I dont remember... But I think you were so out of it that you were just hallucinating.."

Naruto looked down then thought for awhile.

Sakura looked at his face then grabbed his hand, "Come on... lets get going. Kakashi-sensei and the others need us..."

Naruto nodded his head and followed Sakura up the valley to where Sasuke and Pakkun were in conversation.

**BACK AT KONOHA**

"Keep it up, Neji" said Lee as they charged Haku's onslaught of sharp icecicles while dodging them.

Neji, with his byakugan activated, nodded then increased his speed which made him disappear. Rock Lee followed suit and increased his speed, making him look as though he disappeared as well.

Haku, wearing his hunter nin mask, stood ready for anything. He then suddenly placed out both his arms as if signaling for a jutsu. Afterwards, water quickly formed around him from underground and froze instantly, making a rock hard ice barrier around himself.

Rock Lee and Neji, not knowing this, punched at Haku simultaniously only to have their punches stopped by the ice that cracked lightly from their strike.

Haku then formed a handseal... making the Crystal Ice Mirrors emerge around the Jounin Hyuuga and the Chuunin bushy brow hardworking genius.

Neji and Rock Lee looked around as the Crystal Ice Mirrors completely surrounded them. "Wha...what is this?" asked Lee.

"Be on your guard..." said Neji looking around the crystal mirrors.

Haku stepped into a mirror and suddenly all the mirrors had an image of Haku. Haku then took out senbon and prepared to throw them from every angle at Neji and Lee. Neji and Lee's eyes widened as they realized what was about to happen.

Neji quickly signaled Lee to get close to him and Lee nodded with acceptance as he got close to him. Suddenly, Haku proceeded in throwing multiple senbon at the duo in which Neji quickly began to spin, making his palm rotation chakra surround him and Lee while deflecting the senbon from every angle. Lee stood inside of Neji's chakra spin and watched as the chakra expanded more and more to the point where it slightly began to push the chakra mirrors away. Seeing this, Lee instantly thought of a plan and crossed his arms in the form of a "X" infront of his face. He then fiercly whipped them away, "KAI! (unlock)" making his skin turn dark redish-brown and making vains emerge tensly. Neji saw lee transform then looked at what his chakra spin was doing to the mirrors and instantly knew what Lee was up to. Lee then began to run in the same direction Neji was spinning, increasing Neji's chakra spin dramatically and, ultimately, pushing the mirrors away from them. Lee's unlocked gates's chakra intensly began to crack some of the mirrors.

Haku, fearing that they were goign to break due to the high chakra build up, jumped from the mirrors. Neji then stopped his chakra spin and pulled back his arm then thrusted forward at Haku, "Eight Trigrams: Empty Palm!" he shouted as a burst of chakra shot from his palm and struck Haku... making him fly back from the impact.

"Now Lee!" shouted Neji.

Lee nodded in his unlock gate mode, "right!" he shouted as he then ran so fast that he disappeared then reappeared infront of Haku. He then kicked Haku in the chin, sending him flying upward. Next, Lee jumped up and appeared behind Haku... wrapping Haku in his bandages then pulled Haku toward himself... then thrusting one arm and one foot at him.. kicking him downward fiercly. "Ura Renge!!!" shouted Lee as he then landed on the ground and out of the gate mode.

Haku's body then began to disentigrate and ultimately wasted into the wind.

Zabuza, still fighting Kakashi and Gai, swung his sword at the both of them in which they ducked it quickly. Gai looked at Kakashi and nodded, "Kakashi, lets show him the double dynamic entry assault!" shouted Gai with a smirk.

Kakashi, with an anime sweatdrop, shook his head, "Cant we just beat him the easy way... the way the lets me keep my dignity?" Kakashi said with a smile as he rubbed the back of his head.

Gai smirked then stood up straight and gave Kakashi a thumbs up. Kakashi sighed as he gave in and stood up beside Gai. Gai then motioned his hands in the air and came to a stop. Kakashi then followed suit and motioned his arms in the same way, but toward Gai. Then, Kakashi and Gai both dashed toward Zabuza then flipped up into the air simultaniously next to each other with the same stance. They then extended their feet out and zipped toward Zabuza... kicking him at the same time and sending him flying into a building and making Zabuza's body fade into the wind on impact.

Orochimaru extended both his arms.. .one toward Shikamaru and one toward Gaara then shot snakes from the sleeves of his arms at them. Suprised, Shikamaru and Gaara both caught the snake as he went straight for their necks. Gaara held his snake in place and suddenly made the sand emerge from the ground and wrapped it around the snake's neck and hardened the sand to strangle it.. then killed it. Gaara then sent a wave of sand toward Orochimaru in which Orochimaru easily jumped out of the way.

Shikamaru snapped the neck of the snake and dropped it to the ground. He then formed the Kagemane handseal and sent it toward Orochimaru. Once Orochimaru landed on the ground from his jump from the sand, the Kagemane shadow connected with his.

"Yes.." said Shikamaru as he then began to struggle to keep Orochimaru still.

"Hold him still" said Gaara as he made his sand wrap around his body. Gaara then motioned his arm to tighten around Orochimaru to keep him in place also.

Kakashi, Gai, Rock Lee and Neji all zipped over to help with the captured Orochimaru.

"Its over, Orochimaru" said Kakashi with a hand on his hip.

Orochimaru smirked as he looked at his situation with no worry.

**ELSEWHERE...**

Tenten, Hinata, Ino and Sai along with a couple ANBU faced off against the 1st Hokage.

Chouji, Kiba, and Shino along with some ANBU faced off against the 2nd Hokage.

A couple of ANBU ninjas and other older ninjas fought off as many undead ninjas as they could and successfully defeated some of them.

Orochimaru began to maniacally laugh still encased in the sand... making Kakashi and the others confused.

Suddenly, a resurrected Kimmimaru jumped in between Kakashi and the rest and slashed at Gaara with his bone sword. Gaara quickly jumped out of way but in the act, it made him loosen his grip on Orochimaru, allowing him to escape the sand.

Orochimaru chuckled as he jumped on the top of another tall building, "Kimmimaru will be your opponent now... " said Orochimaru. Kabuto then appeared next to him and performed the summoning jutsu which made Manda emerge wrapped around the building and staring down on the ninjas.

Manda looked at Orochimaru, "Again you summon me without sacrifices?" he said in a mean manner.

Orochimaru ignored Manda as he looked downward onto Konoha's last forces of defense. Kabuto looked up at Manda and spoke, "Why, Manda, those down there are your sacrifices.. I just thought that you'd like to eat them alive rather than dead"

Manda looked at Kabuto with his same threatening stare, "Do you take me as a fool, boy? I know what this is. Another of Orochimaru's attempts on bringing down Konohagakure...but.. I suppose it doesnt matter. Alright, I've decided to kill these ones but I expect even more sacrifices later on." finished the bloodthirsty snake as it then charged the ninjas below.

Taking evasive manuevers, Kakashi and the others zipped out of the way of the giant snake's strike as it crashed it's snout into the ground.

As Gaara slid back from dodging, Kimmimaru instantly appeared behind him with his bone sword ready to strike. Gaara turned his head and was too late to dodge. Kimmimaru thrusted the bone sword forward toward Gaara's back. Suddenly, Karasu, Kankuro's puppet, flew inbetween Gaara and Kimmimaru's attack and got stabbed in the place of Gaara. Just then, Temari and Kankuro jumped infront of Gaara and prepared for battle. Gaara turned around and readied himself along with his siblings to fight the bone ninja.

Hinata continued to fight with the others in fighting the first hokage. As they charged at him, the first hokage made a handseal. Seeing this, Hinata, Tenten, Ino and Sai stopped their charged and waited to see what would happen. Suddenly, 4 tree roots emerged from the ground and wrapped around each of the ninjas. The first hokage then slowly took out a kunai knife and walked slowly to where Tenten was bound by the big tree root and placed the kunai up to her throat.

Tenten began to sweat as she was helpless while bounded.

The first hokage then took the kunai from her throat and walked to where Sai was bound and placed the kunai to his throat. Sai stared into the first hokage's eyes and struggled to get loose but to no avail. The first hokage placed the kunai even close as it touched Sai's neck but not hard enough to penetrate it.

"Sai-san!" shouted Ino for Sai's safety.

Hearing this, the first hokage took his kunai down from Sai's throat and walked over to where Ino was bounded by the tree root and placed the kunai to her throat. Ino began to sweat in fear as she couldnt do anything but watch as her life was about to be taken from her.

Tenten began to try and reach for her scroll but to no avail... "its no use, i cant move my hand..." she said worried for Ino.

Hinata, thinking fast, motioned her hand and activated her chakra laser and successfully cut through the tree root that was holding her. Once on her feet, she quickly dug in her pouch, took out a shuriken and threw it toward the 1st hokage's kunai... knocking it out of his hand and away from Ino.

The 1st hokage turned slowly at Hinata then suddenly charged her.

"RUN!" yelled Tenten, Ino and Sai to Hinata.

Hinata readied herself with the gentle fist stance as the hokage flew in close range. She threw a gentle fist punch toward him in which he easily dodged it. He then threw a punch at her in return in which she blocked it then threw another punch. The 1st hokage then grabbed Hinata's arm then formed a single handseal with his free hand, making a thicker tree root wrap around Hinata and raised her high into the air.

Ino, Sai and Tenten could only look up into the sky as the tree root raised Hinata into the air. The 1st hokage then performed a couple of handseals then stopped on one. Just then, the bottom of the tree ignited and fire trailed from the bottom and began to ascend to the top where Hinata was bounded. Hinata looked on in horror as the intense flames shot toward her.

Orochimaru looked on at the village-wide war going on from atop a tall building, "Finally, the destruction of Konoha is upon us" said Orochimaru to himself.

"Konoha isnt done yet" came a voice behind Orochimaru.

"Not as long as the people who is being driven by the will of fire fight and never give up." said another voice.

Orochimaru turned around and faced the two people standing behind him, "Hmph, so we face off again... Jiraiya..Tsunade.."

Jiraiya and Tsunade stood together and stared on at Orochimaru who stared back with a maniacal smirk.

"This time... you're going to die for sure" said Tsunade as she stood with Jiraiya. Jiraiya looked on at Orochimaru with a stern face.

Manda continued on with his strikes and everyone continued to dodge them. Everyone, starting to run low on chakra, stopped their dodging and fell tired slightly.

"I dont know how long I can keep this up" said Gai to Kakashi.

Kakashi placed out his hand to try and form a Raikiri but it wouldnt form, "Im running on low..." he said referring to his chakra.

Manda then chuckled evilly, "Looks like my prey is getting weary...time to strike.." he then dashed his snout once more toward the ninjas. Everyone was too tired to dodge or defend themselves... they braced from the impact when suddenly Manda's attack was stopped abruptly.

Kakashi turned his head and saw what made Manda stop.

Elsewhere, the fire continued to trail up the tree while picking up it's pace and speed to get to Hinata. Hinata began to sweat in worry and horror as she was about to be incinerated. She let out a scream as it drew closer when suddenly...

"FUUTON: RASENSHURIKEN!" shouted a voice as a giant chakra shuriken with a Rasengan in the middle twirled and cut Hinata free from the tree. Hinata began to fall from the height she was at along with the top of the tree. Naruto jumped up and caught Hinata into his arms then landed on his feet infront of the 1st Hokage and the others. Hinata, with her eyes shut, could only feel herself in someone's arms... her hands instinctively wrapped around someone's neck.

"Are you alright... Hinata?" said Naruto.

The long haired Hyuuga heiress slowly opened her eyes then looked up at the person holding her, "Na-Naruto-kun!" she said with excitment.

Ino, Sai and Tenten all smiled in relief for Hinata, "NARUTO!" they shouted happily.

Naruto looked over at them all and gave a reassuring smile, "Hey there, guys. I'll be there in just a sec' " he said getting ready to face the 1st hokage. Naruto then placed Hinata on her feet once more and walked infront of her and toward the 1st hokage. The first hokage walked toward Naruto and they both stared each other down ready to fight. Hinata stayed back looking onto the back of Naruto.

Gai smiled in relief, "You guys are late... " he said as Sasuke stood with his kusenagi out, holding Manda's snout back from the others. Sakura stood behind Sasuke as he struggled to keep Manda back.

"Sakura... hurry and heal everyone. I'll hold him off" said Sasuke as he kept up his struggle with Manda.

Sakura nodded and ran to everyone, starting with Kakashi, and began the healing.

* * *

And thats chapter 26. Sad to say that chapter 27 is the last and final chapter. I promise itll be the best chapter i can make it. Please Review. I hope to read on how you like the story. Since the next chapter is the last chapter, im going to put in the url's to a couple pics of stuff that happened in the story. Next chapter coming soon. 


	27. Destiny Finale

Tunnel Of Destined Love

Chapter Finale

**CHAPTER 27 - Destiny's Finale **

"Are you guys alright?" asked Kakashi as Sakura finished healing him.

Sakura looked at her sensei and nodded with an assuring smile, "Yes, we ran into some trouble on the way here, though" she stated as she stood up and helped up Kakashi.

"I know. We saw Orochimaru send the undead fourth hokage.." said Kakashi finally standing up.

Gai, not as badly hurt as Kakashi, slightly limped over to them, "How did you guys get passed him?"

Sakura smirked at Gai's question, "Naruto defeated him."

After having said that, Kakashi and Gai's eyes widened simultaneously from the shock.

"Naruto...defeated him?" repeated Gai.

Sakura smirked and nodded at Gai's reassuring question as she went over to him and began to heal the little injuries that he had gotten.

Sasuke, still holding back Manda's snout, activated the sharingan for intimidation. "Stand down Manda." he commanded the giant snake.

"Hmm... Uchiha Sasuke... Why are you helping them? Arent you suppose to be Orochimaru's next vessel?" asked Manda

"I've had a change in plans. Orochimaru's goals are nonexistant and meaningless. I am stronger than him now so there is no point in giving him my body." explained Sasuke as the struggle between him and Manda ended.

"I see.. As it would seem, I, too, have no goal for this battle. Farewell, Uchiha Sasuke.." said Manda as he poofed in a cloud of smoke from the area.

Seeing Manda disperse away, Sasuke re-sheathed his sword on his lower back and walked over to Kakashi and the rest.

"Good Job, Sasuke." applauded Kakashi to his former student.

"Yeah.." Sasuke simply replied.

Sakura finished up healing Gai and smiled, "There. You should be better now"

"Thank you, Sakura. I feel like taking down all of Orochimaru's forces now with the springtime of youth!" Gai shouted with a gleam sparkle twinkling on his teeth.

"Dont over do it, Gai" Kakashi said with a anime sweat drop then looked over toward Sakura and Sasuke, "Wheres Naruto?"

Sasuke and Sakura looked at each other and shrugged trying to think.

ELSEWHERE...

"Naruto-kun... be careful..." Hinata said in worry for Naruto.

Naruto looked into the eyes of the Shodaime. "So... he's the first hokage...This is so cool!" Naruto exclaimed, "Hey Shodaime..."

The first hokage looked at Naruto with intent, murderous eyes and kept silent. Naruto, with a big grin on his face, spoke out..

"Im Naruto Uzumaki! and I'm going to be the future hokage!" said Naruto, "So lets get started! Kage Bunshin on Jutsu!" Suddenly, three clones appeared next to Naruto. Naruto chuckled as a plan formulated in his head. "Im taking you down, Shodaime! Believe it!" As he said that, he placed out his right hand to two of the clones in which they began to form the Fuuton RasenShuriken.

"What's he doing?" asked Tenten as she, Ino and Sai were still binded by tree roots made from the Shodaime's attack.

"Its his RasenShuriken technique..." explained Ino remembering the time he used it on Kakuzu.

"Rasen...Shuriken?" Tenten asked confused.

"Yeah, its really amazing! Look, you'll see" assured Ino while they all turned their attention back to Naruto and the Shodaime.

"Its ready" Naruto hoisted up the Shuriken-like technique over his head. "Alright! Do your thing, clones!"

"Right! Henge!" the two clones nodded and transformed into windmill shurikens. "Alright clone number three! lets get started!" The third clone nodded and grabbed the two windmill shurikens and threw them with force at the Shodaime.

Not caring for such a mesley means of attack, the Shodaime sidestepped the first windmill shuriken to dodge and jumped into the air to dodge the second.

"Naruto-kun..." said Sai looking on at the battle.

"Naruto-kun..." Hinata said alittle worried for him.

Naruto, however, smirked on as he looked up at the Shodaime in the air. Taking action, Naruto jumped up after the Shodaime and thrusted forward the RasenShuriken attack. "Eat this!"

"hmph." the Shodaime flipped down from the path of the attack and landed back upon his feet looking up at Naruto still airborne.

"He missed!" shouted Tenten.

"Behind you..." came a voice behind the Shodaime.

In hearing the voice, the Shodaime turned around only to be met in the stomach with another RasenShuriken technique. The technique swirl violently as it picked the Shodaime into the air and sliced him with fast moving blades of wind... destroying him and putting him back to death.

"I see. He missed with the two windmill shurikens on purpose... After he dodged them, he turned them back to clones and started making another attack while the real Naruto went after him with a decoy.. knowing that a head to head with the Shodaime would result in a miss." evaluated Sai. "But still... after what happened to him the first time... he has to be in pain now..."

After the attack ended, Naruto landed back on the ground and dispersed the clones.. making his right arm fill with sharp pain.

"Ah..." he gasped slightly at the pain in his right hand. "I used it too many times in one day i guess..." he explained to himself in his mind.

Hinata, seeing Naruto holding his right wrist, walked up to him and smiled, "N-Naruto-kun.. Are you alright?" she asked in her normal way of talking to Naruto.

Naruto turned to Hinata and grinned reassuringly, "Oh, Yeah Im fine." he said to her then took out a kunai with his left hand and walked over to the three tree binded friends and chipped them out of their capture.

"Thanks, Naruto-kun" said Sai with a nod.

"Good going, Naruto." said Tenten with a smile, "Theres still alot of undead ninja's wreaking havoc. Sai, you and Ino cover the east side and kill off as many undead ninjas as you can. There are some Anbu over there as well." Tenten turned her head to Hinata, "We'll cover the west side"

"I'll go check on Gaara and the others" said Naruto still holding right wrist.

"Alright, lets go" said Hinata and with that, they all scattered to their respective areas.

ELSEWHERE...

"You two failed to kill me the last time... what makes you think you can this time?" said Orochimaru as he stared back at Jiraiya and Tsunade atop the Administration building of Konoha.

"Hm, cockyness will be your downfall, Orochimaru" said Tsunade as she stood next to Jiraiya.

"The will of fire fuels all of us who fight to save Konoha, Orochimaru. Something you cannot begin to understand the meaning of. All of us fight to stop you... And we will succeed. Give up, Orochimaru, while you have the chance" said Jiraiya with a stern face.

Orochimaru chuckled, "Oh, is that so?" he said with a smirk of evil on his face, "Look around... your precious Konoha is practically destroyed. Buildings tumbled... areas set a blaze of fire... all thanks to my ambition. Konoha is already destroyed..." he began to laugh maniacally... filling the air with feelings of doom.

"Your wrong again..." stated Jiraiya, interrupting Orochimaru's evil laughter.

"Oh?" replied Orochimaru

"Konoha may be on fire... buildings may be tumbled... but Konoha lives on.. " said Jiraiya.

"Konoha is much more than just buildings and trees and mountains..." included Tsunade, "Konoha is the people who go by the will of fire! We all work together to make a better life for ourselves and for others. We care for one another and THAT, Orochimaru, is why you will lose.."

"Well lets put it to the test then, shall we?" Just then, Orochimaru opened his mouth and shot out his tongue toward Jiraiya's neck in hopes of strangling him. Suddenly, just as the tongue was about to wrap around his neck, Tsunade grabbed it and clinched it tightly in her fist. She, then, tugged on it hard, sending Orochimaru flying toward them. Following up on the attack, she took the tongue and began to swing Orochimaru over her head high in the air.

"I'll rip this tongue out of your mouth!" she yelled still swinging him.

Orochimaru, unable to talk back at the moment, started to form handseal. While forming the handseals, Orochimaru shot out the Kusenagi sword from his mouth and toward Tsunade, making her let go of his tongue just in enough time to dodge it.

"Nice, Tsunade... I forgot how monstrous you are with your strength" said Orochimaru with a smirk on his face as he finished the sequence of handseals. With a wave of his hand, suddenly, wind shot from him and toward Tsunade, "Great Breakthrough Technique" he then landed on a building some distance away from the Administration building.

"These winds are strong... its making it hard to breathe." thought Jiraiya. Suddenly, Jiraiya formed a set of handseals, "Kuchiyose no Jutsu!" he slammed his palm forcibly on the ground, summoning Gamabunta on the ground behind him... tall enough that only his upper body scaled the building. "Oil.. Gamabunta!" shouted Jiraiya.

Knowing he was in the midst of a battle, he nodded to Jiraiya, saving any wise cracks or remarks for later, he took a deep breath and shot oil toward Orochimaru.

Acting quickly, Jiraiya formed a "C" with his hand, using the index and the thumb, and placed it infront of his mouth and blew, "Katon: Gokakyu No Jutsu!" combining his fire attack with Gamabunta's oil to make the Toad Oil Flame Bullet technique.

As the giant fire blast raced toward Orochimaru, the wind from the Great Breakthrough technique only made it stronger and bigger, coming closer and closer to Orochimaru. Seeing absolutely no way to dodge the giant ranged fire blast, Orochimaru quickly bit his thumb and formed handseals, then thrusted quickly his hand to the ground.

"Kuchiyose No Jutsu!" he shouted as a Rashomon demon gate emerged from the ground infront of the building he was on and blocked off the fire blast.

Suddenly, Tsunade, having used Jiraiya's fire attack as a diversion, ran up behind Orochimaru in threw a punch toward his head. Sensing this quickly, however, Orochimaru ducked out the way of the punch and flipped back away from Tsunade and performed the Shadow Snake jutsu.

Nevertheless, Tsunade charged toward the 3 snakes coming at her. She quickly took off her green overshirt and waved it at the snake's heads, ensarling them in it. Once that was accomplished, she continued to rush at Orochimaru. Once in range, she threw a series of punches and kicks at him... in which he did best to dodge.

She threw yet another punch in which it grazed Orochimaru's cheek slightly. Afterwards, she lifted up her leg and swung it down to Orochimaru's shoulders. Orochimaru quickly side stepped out the way of the kick coming down and lounged out his tongue to grab it. Once the tongue was tightly wrapped around her leg, he motioned his head in which his tongue picked up Tsunade by her leg high into the air and began to swing her. From afar, Jiraiya observed Tsunade being swung and looked down and saw the Kusanagi sword that Orochimaru lounged at them before.

Jiraiya picked the legendary sword into his hand, "Tsunade! Heads up!" he yelled in warning her to stay alert for the sword then sharply threw the sword as hard as he could.

The now airborne sword continued on its path towards the tongue and without a moments notice, the sword cut through Orochimaru's tongue, freeing Tsunade.

"Darn that Jiraiya!" shouted Orochimaru as he returned the tongue back to his mouth while looking up at Tsunade... making his eyes widened at what she was about to do.

"Orochimaru! Your through!" she shouted as she descended from the height with her leg high up... preparing for the painful sky leg technique.

"Shit!" exclaimed Orochimaru seeing Tsunade fall straight towards him with the super strength leg attack aimed at him.

BOOOM! Tsunade's painful sky leg attack struck the building's rooftop, crumbling it and causing it to cave in... Orochimaru had quickly juked to the side once again, avoiding the attack but fell to the lower room of the building due to the roof caving in.

Both Tsunade and Orochimaru landed on their faces on the floor in the room of the building, surrounded by rubble that use to be the ceiling and roof. Orochimaru and Tsunade both slowly rose to their feet, recovering from the fall and stared each other down while breathing somewhat hard.

"My, My, My...Look at yourself, Tsunade...You've proven to be more destructive than my whole undead army.." taunted Orochimaru.

"Your going down, Orochimaru. Count on it!" said Tsunade as she spotted the Kusanagi sword sticking up from the floor next to her.

"Hmm... This is quite interesting... I've killed a hokage before. Now, Ill have to kill you, Tsunade hokage.." Orochimaru taunted evilly once again, staring back at Tsunade as they both stood in the roofless and ceilingless room on the highest floor.

Tsunade reached down and gripped the handle of the sword and picked it up, "And I'll beat you! As Hokage!" she shouted triumphantly then threw the kusanagi straight for Orochimaru's head in which he moved his head off to the side in avoiding it, still cutting a few of his hairs off. The sword continued to fly and broke threw the building's walls and out of it to where it finally stopped by stabbing the Rashomon gate.

Retaliating, Orochimaru extended his neck and flung his head toward Tsunade in attempts of bitting her. Tsunade evaded the head of Orochimaru and quickly dashed toward him while winding up a powerful punch. Once in range, she pulled back her fist and punched Orochimaru in the stomach. The pain shot up Orochimaru's neck, making him return his neck back to normal. This, however, did not stop Tsunade. She continued to punch Orochimaru in the stomach numerous times in a combo. Orochimaru stumbled back as he clinched over, holding his stomach in extreme pain. He looked up slowly with grinning teeth to endure the pain and saw Tsunade standing infront of him with her arms to her side.

"You doomed yourself the second you targetted Konoha with me as it's hokage..." she said looked down at the hunched over Orochimaru. She then lifted up her right hand and placed as much of her chakra that she had left into it to the point that it started to glow with blue chakra.

"Grr..." Orochimaru growled with anger. As a last attempt of attacking her, he opened his mouth as a suprise attack and extended his head once more to attack her and bite her but it didnt get far as Tsunade ducked the head and uppercutted Orochimaru high into the air and out of the building... flying over the Rashomon gate and straight for Jiraiya who was talking with Gamabunta.

"Here he comes, on cue" said Gamabunta seeing Orochimaru soaring straight to them. "...Just like Tsunade said"

"My turn..." said Jiraiya as he pulled his hand down to the side and formed a Rasengan.

Orochimaru continued to fall straight for Jiraiya and, once in range, Jiraiya caught Orochimaru with the Rasengan to his stomach. "Rasengan!" shouted Jiraiya. Orochimaru shot from Jiraiya's arm and twirled like all victims of the Rasengan did and hit the Rashomon gate so hard to the point it dented up making Orochimaru stuck to it with his body imprint on the gate holding him.

Jiraiya walked up to Orochimaru on the Rashomon gate, "Its over...Orochimaru..."

Tsunade walked from the building that she and Orochimaru fought in and stood beside Jiraiya as they looked at a beaten Orochimaru.

ELSEWHERE...

Gaara, Kankuro, Temari, Chouji, and Shino stood together over a wasting-away of Kimmimaru's defeated body.

"Hey!" Naruto ran over to the ground and grinned.

"Hey, Naruto!" shouted Chouji

"Hey..." said Temari and Kankuro with nice smile while Gaara simply turned his head to face Naruto.

"Hey, Naruto" said Shino.

"You guys took out that bone guy?" Naruto said seeing Kimmimaru's remains finishing blowing in the wind.

"Naruto, What happened to your arm?" asked Chouji seeing it look banged up and possibly broken.

"Its nothing. Just sprained it." answered Naruto still holding his wrist.

Gaara walked close and looked at Naruto's arm, "Its fractured..." he said his usual way of speaking. "here..." Gaara motioned his hand and a wad of sand wrapped around Naruto's arm and incased it to form a cast of sand. "Try not to move it alot"

Naruto looked down at his cast of sand on his wrist and smiled at Gaara, "Ah, Thank you. Thats much better!" said Naruto letting go of his wrist now. "We should get back to Kakashi-sensei and the others now.."

"Right, lets go" said Shino. Gaara, Temari, Naruto, and Chouji all nodded and walked to meet up with Kakashi and the others.

With Orochimaru defeated and taken by the Anbu, the rest of the undead ninjas were soon defeated and the invasion on Konoha was over.

"Kakashi-sensei!" shouted Naruto.

Kakashi turned his head and saw Naruto and the rest walking toward them. "Ah, Naruto. Are you okay?" he asked seeing Naruto with a cast that Gaara made for him.

"Oh, yeah Im okay. But more importantly, where is Ero-sanin and granny-tsunade?"

"Oi, right here" replied Jiraiya as he and Tsunade walked over to them, leaving the Anbu to take care of Orochimaru and dispelling the Rashomon gate.

"What happened to Orochimaru?" asked Gai as Neji and Lee walked up to the group finally.

"He's being taken by the Anbu to jail as we speak." answered Tsunade.

"It looks like we stopped Orochimaru's plan!" exclaimed Naruto as he lifted his hand in victory and jumped around alittle.

"I told you to not move so much" said Gaara referring to Naruto's injury.

"This isnt time to sit back and wait for things to heal... This is time to celebrate! Yeah!" exclaimed Naruto still jumping around.

Tsunade smirked, "Oh, Im glad you brought that up, Naruto. As a matter of fact... it is a time to heal..."

"Huh?..." Naruto said confused, "What?! We should be having fun now and celebrating and having a huge party!"

Iruka placed a hand on Naruto's shoulder, "Look around, Naruto, where are you going to have a party at?" Iruka said as he showed Naruto that the village was pretty much in ruin and that there was nowhere to have a party.

"Unless you want to have a party in a building full of ruble and debris. Or if you want to have a dance off in some fire then by all means go ahead" joked Anko. "and dont worry if you have a party and the building starts collapsing on ya. Its all good... Youll just be burried alive is all. Dont let alittle thing like dying while partying ruin your fun" Anko continued to joke as she laughed.

Suddenly, everyone bursted out laughing at Anko's joke to Naruto... all but Naruto.

Naruto looked over at the sand siblings and saw Kankuro, Temari and even Gaara laughing.

"You too Gaara?" said Naruto having not seen Gaara laugh before. He then glanced over at Sakura, "Sakura-chaaaan.." then saw Hinata laughing, "Hinata, even you?" he said then started laughing himself.

Anko looked over at Gaara and saw him laughing, "HEY! You're laughing! Of all the times to laugh, you laugh now? What didnt you laugh when we were having that bet!? Huh?! Geez! All those choirs of yours drove me up a wall!" she said in a funny anime rage type of way.

"Anyways, People, everyone gather for a quick assembly." said Tsunade as she walked to the top of the Adminstration building.

After 10 minutes of gathering everyone in the village and helping them, they all surrounded the administration building. Atop the administration building stood Tsunade... standing behind her was Jiraiya, a couple jounins and some Anbu members. She looked down to the many villagers of Konoha as they flooded the streets, gathering to hear her talk. Once ready, Tsunade began the announcement..

"People of Konoha! The invasion has failed and we are still strong!" shouted Tsunade then everyone began to cheer triumphantly. After the cheering died out, Tsunade resumed, "I am pleased to inform you that noone was killed during this invasion thanks to all the shinobis who fought against the undead ninjas and saved our people. Unfortunetly, however, our beloved home has been trashed, So... we, as a whole, must work to rebuild. It'll take approximately 2 weeks to get all of this back to the way it was. Everyone must pitch in to help..."

Suddenly, in the crowd of people, moans in groans of pain could be heard coming from Naruto as he began to hold his arm, "Oh I cant... uh.. my hand still hurts... See? Looks like I cant help clean up..." Naruto said outloud back to Tsunade as the crowd looked at Naruto.

"Naruto, just for that, you'll be doing most of the work!" shouted Tsunade down to Naruto with a smile.

"Ahh man..." said Naruto.

The people of Konoha began to laugh at this and some cheered to hear Naruto will be doing most of the work.

"I do have some news of fun, however. After the 2 weeks of cleaning and rebuilding is done, there will be a party and everyone is invited. This party is going to be our first formal yet crazy ones ever so dress up in your best!"

Everyone began to cheer once again.

"The party will take place in a new building that is going to be constructed... and yes Naruto, you'll be doing most of the building of that building as well" Tsunade joked and chuckled.

"Are you serious! Come on, I cant do everything" shouted Naruto as everyone began to laugh once more.

"Oh pipe down. There is going to be a suprise for you if you do it" said Tsunade back to Naruto.

Naruto's eyes widened, "A...suprise?..." Naruto began to get excited.

"So, we will start the cleaning process in an hour. In this hour, everyone can recover and rest and get something to eat because its going to be a loooong 2 weeks" finished Tsunade.

And thus started the 2 week rebuilding period... and just as Tsunade stated, Naruto did most of the work as well as did most of the construction of the new party building.

**2 WEEKS LATER...**

"Whew...that was a long day, wouldnt ya say guys?" said Naruto as he walked down the path at night that lead to his house with Sakura and Sasuke.

"It went by rather fast for me" said Sasuke as the moonlight shown and illuminated the area litely.

"It probably only went slow for you Naruto because you had to do most of the work." stated Sakura with a smile, walking with her hands behind he back sweetly.

"I dont see why Granny-Tsunade made me do mainly all the work anyway... I mean, come on... Its not fair.." said Naruto

"Well maybe next time you'll learn to keep your mouth shut instead of faking things and complaining like a dork" said Sasuke.

"And besides, Naruto, You use Kagebunshins to help yourself make it go by faster" said Sakura.

"Hmph, yeah well I dont care about all that because Im going to get a suprise." said Naruto with a grin, "I wonder what it is..."

"Probably a restraining order.." said Sasuke with a smirk, leading Sakura to chuckle from his joke.

"Yeah, yeah.. Laugh it up because when I get my suprise, I aint sharing" said Naruto with a comeback.

"We're just playing... " said Sakura with a smile.

"Yeah, lighten up alittle" said Sasuke in a not caring way as the three passed infront of Naruto's house.

"Well this is my stop. See you guys tommorow!" said Naruto with a wave.

"Bye!" said Sakura smiling with a wave

"Later." said Sasuke with a flicker of his hand.

Naruto walked up on his porch and opened the door to his apartment. Once inside, he closed it behind him and turned on the lights...

"AND JUST WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?! DO YOU KNOW WHAT TIME IT IS? ITS 11:30PM THATS WHAT TIME IT IS!" shouted Jiraiya in Naruto's face.

"DONT YOU KNOW THAT THERE'S AN ORGANIZATION OUT THERE TRYING TO GET YOU!" shouted Iruka next to Jiraiya.

"Whats with the yelling? And besides, we finished the rebuilding today... Im tired. Must you two always do this?!" said Naruto.

"Its fun" said Jiraiya as he and Iruka started to chuckle.

"And besides.. Its true. You cant be strolling at night when people are after you." said Iruka.

"Yeah, yeah." said Naruto nonchalantly as he sat down on his couch and turned on his television. "I know.. I know.."

Jiraiya sat on Naruto's recliner chair and Iruka sat on Naruto's other couch.

"I wonder what Granny Tsunade's suprise is?" said Naruto.

"I know what it is" said Jiraiya with a sly smirk. "you wanna know?"

Naruto shot up from his couch and looked at Jiraiya with a wide smile, "Yeah, Yeah, I wanna know! Tell me!"

"Come closer..." said Jiraiya as Naruto inched his ear closer to Jiraiya's mouth.

"hehehe.. closer." said Jiraiya slyly and Naruto inched it even closer.

"Im not telling..." said Jiraiya as he bursted out laughing, leaving Naruto in an anime rage yelling at him. Iruka smiled at the two and watched the tv.

Naruto walked back to his couch and layed down after yelling at his sensei.

"dont worry Naruto, You'll like it. Trust me." said Iruka. "Oh yeah, I almost forgot... here." Iruka reached into his pocket and pulled out a small jelewry box. "Its your present for Hinata... remember?"

"Oh yeah... I forgot about that..." said Naruto taking the necklace into his hand. "Thats right... I remember now. It was suppose to be her valentine's gift at the Valentine's party..."

"You can still give it to her... At the party tommorow" said Jiraiya in a yawn

Naruto smiled, "Cool. Then I will...what you think?..eh?..." Naruto looked on with dumbfoundedness as he saw Jiraiya layed back in his recliner chair asleep and Iruka layed out of his other couch asleep as well.

Naruto shook his head, "Geez... and right when I was trying to get some feedback.." said Naruto in a chuckle as got up and placed a blanket over both Jiraiya and Iruka then went off to bed.

**DURING SASUKE AND SAKURA'S WALK AFTER NARUTO LEFT...**

"Are you happy to be back in Konoha?..." asked Sakura looking up at the moon

"Its alright I guess." said Sasuke in his usual way. "Its not really that much different than where I was before."

"Sasuke-kun... I meant what I said about..."

"You dont have to say anything...I know.." said Sasuke with a slight smile on his face.

Sakura kept up her stare at Sasuke as they walked together. "Sasuke-kun... Oh..Here, I got this for you... it was suppose to be a valentine's day present for you.." Sakura pulled out a present box and gave it to Sasuke.

Sasuke looked over at Sakura and gently took the box, "Thank you..Sakura.." Sasuke looked intently into Sakura's eyes

Sakura looked back into his as tears began to well up in her eyes. She lunged out toward Sasuke, engulfing him in a passionate hug. "Sasuke-kun... I missed you...I still have the teddy bear you gave me..." she said.

Sasuke's slight smile turned to a more revealing one suitable to his personality, "I missed you too...Sakura.." said Sasuke as he placed his arms around her slowly, embracing her passionately in the moonlight.

After a few more moments, Sasuke and Sakura finally made it to Sakura's house where Sasuke walked her to her doorstep. Sakura turned around and faced Sasuke in which Sasuke smiled at her.

"So Ill see you at the party tommorow, right?" said Sakura to Sasuke.

"Yeah, I'll be there. Gotta see what Tsunade got Naruto so he can shut up about it already" said Sasuke with a smile on still.

Sakura chuckled, "Well...I...I'll see you tommorow then" said Sakura as she began to feel nervous in this situation, "Good Nigh-..." but before she could finish what she was going to say, Sasuke leaned down and kissed Sakura's cheek and stepped back.

"Thank you, Sakura... for everything.." said Sasuke as he began to start walking home himself. "Good Night...Sakura.."

Blushing madly, Sakura smiled sweetly, "Good Night...Sasuke-kun..." and with that, she went in and closed the door behind herself.

Sasuke, finally being back here after 2 years of being at Orochimaru's place, made it to his door step and walked in and was shocked at what he saw...

"What...in heaven's name...are you doing?" asked Sasuke with a weirded face.

Gai and Rock Lee had turned Sasuke's apartment into a training area. Gai sat up from doing pushups and Lee stopped his jumping jacks and both looked at Sasuke.

"We didnt know you were going to be back...so we turned your apartment into a training gym" answered Rock Lee.

"Thats right, We turned it into the spring time of youth gym! Wanna train with us?!" asked Gai with a sparkle in his teeth and a thumbs up.

"Alright! Come Sasuke-kun! Lets have a spar match!" said Lee with the same sparkle and thumbs up as Gai.

Sasuke could only stand there and fathom how he would get them out of his apartment... "Who trains at night?" he thought to himself. "I'm too tired to train. Just got back from cleaning"

"All the more reason to train!" exclaimed Gai. "After a hard day of rebuilding, training once you get home just makes you stronger, right Lee?!"

"YES SIR!" replied Lee with a salute and fire in his eyes with determination.

"I think Ill pass..." said Sasuke as he continued to stare on at the two bushy brows.

**THE NEXT DAY...**

Naruto awakened and sat up and removed the covers off of himself. He managed to lift himself off the bed and made his way downstairs to his living room. "Still here I see..." said Naruto seeing Iruka and Jiraiya both still sleeping.

"Listen you two! I have to go to the clothing store. She said we had to wear suits and I dont have one so Ill be gone for awhile..Okay?" said Naruto.

"Yeah, yeah, sure." said Jiraiya as he began to snore right after.

"Make sure you buy something nice..." said Iruka in his sleep still.

"Geez you two. You can atleast get up and do something? I guess it cant be helped. See ya later!" said Naruto as he shut the door behind him and began his walk to the konoha department store.

Once outside, Naruto made his way to the department store, having seen alot of people he knew water plants and running stores. It was indeed a bright happy day.

Once in the store, Naruto walked over to the suits area and looked at some suits with orange shirts.

"Whats up with you and orange?" came a familiar voice.

Naruto looked over and saw his laziest friend, "Hey Shikamaru! What are you doing here?" he asked

"Same reason as you... buying a suit for the party" said Shikamaru, "Temari already bought her dress so now she is out there conversating with Ino, Kankuro, Shino and Sai."

"I see. I think Imma get this one" said Naruto as he picked up the jacket for the suit and an orange undershirt.

"Guess it cant be helped." said Shikamaru with a smile placing a hand on Naruto's shoulders and chuckling.

"Hey!" came another familiar voice

"Hey Tenten." said Shikamaru with a friendly smile, "shopping for a dress too, eh?"

"Neji doesnt want to wear one but I think he should" said Tenten to Naruto and Shikamaru.

"If I have to wear one, then he should too. I know what he means, though, its troublesome" said Shikmaru.

"Where is Neji?" asked Naruto.

Tenten took a deep sigh, "He's in the changing room trying on a suit I picked out..He wont come out though"

Naruto, Shikamaru and Tenten all walked over to the guys changing room and Tenten yelled in to demonstrate what she means.

"Neji! Come on out!" yelled Tenten, "Naruto and Shikamaru are here and they want to see you"

"I dont like suits..." said Neji from within the changing room

Suddenly, Chouji and Kiba came walked out of the other changing room wearing suits. Kiba suit was a white one that matched Akamaru's fur. He also had on a top hat and had a walking cane. Chouji wore a suit that had a black jacket and a read undershirt complete with dress shoes.

"Oh hey guys..whatcha doing?" asked Kiba as he swung his cane and tipped his white top hat over one of his eyes as Chouji stood there beside him.

"Neji wont come out of the dressing room..." said Tenten. "Come on Neji! I bet you look really handsome. So dont be shy and just come out"

Suddenly, Sai and Shino walked over to them, "How long has he been in there?" asked Sai

"For about 10 minutes now.." replied Tenten... "Neji, come on out! Or else I'll bring Hiashi here too"

"Alright, Im coming" said Neji.

The door slowly swung open dramatically... revealing Neji dressed in a light gray suit with a black undershirt and with black dress shoes..

"See.. you look good" said Tenten.

"I dont know... looks like he's missing something..." suggested Kiba.. "Hmm...try this.." he said as he took of his white top hat and placed it on Neji's head.

Naruto began to bust out laughing at the sight.

Neji smirked and slid over to Naruto, "think thats funny, huh? laugh at this!" Neji twirled and began striking Naruto's tenketsu's.

"2 palms..."

"Hey stop.."

"4 palms..."

"Neji i was jus playin.."

"16 palms..."

"Ouch...come on Neji.."

"32 palms..."

"Alright...I give...i give.."

Everyone began to laugh as Naruto fell to the ground in a goofy way.

Getting back to his feet, "I was just joking... You look cool" said Naruto chuckling.

"You guys are really something..." said Kankuro as he and Gaara walked up to them. Gaara was wearing a black jacket suit with a red undershirt.

"Hey there, Gaara" Shikamaru greeted them, "Your going as well?"

"Cant be helped. That woman challenged me to a rematch..." said Gaara referring to Anko.

"Good luck...maybe youll win again" said Naruto.

As the day went on, the night drew faster. Atleast it was time for the party. Naruto entered inside the newly built building with Jiraiya, who was wearing a white suit and Iruka who was wearing a brown suit.

"Alright, ready, Naruto?" asked Iruka

"Yeah! Lets get the party started!" said Naruto and with that, they all walked in.

Inside was a very sophisticated big dance room crowded with alot of people. Taking a few steps in, Naruto spotted alot of people he knew already once again.

Naruto looked over and in the corner, he saw Hinata standing there as a slow dance song played. He took out the necklace box and looked at it and began to think.

"Dont think so much, Naruto..." said Jiraiya as he nudged him over in Hinata's direction.

"Go ask her to dance..." said Iruka as he nudged him even more to Hinata's direction.

"Alright..." he said with a grin and walked over to Hinata.

Meanwhile, Sasuke walked in with Sakura... Both dressed and looking appropriate for the occasion.

"Wanna dance?..." asked Sakura.

"Sure" answered Sasuke with a smile as he took her hand gently and lead her to the dance floor and danced along with the many other couples there.

"Neji...I told you to wear the suit.. not the jacket over your original clothes" said Tenten with a sigh.

"I dont like suits" said Neji, "Wanna dance?"

"You dance?" asked Tenten suprised.

Neji, just then, took Tenten by the hand and twirled her then dipped her very smoothly like a professional, "You'd be suprised" he said with a smirk.

"Hey Hinata...you look beautiful.." said Naruto as he finally walked up to her.

"T-thank you...Naruto-kun" said Hinata.

"Oh I forgot to give you this... It was suppose to be your valentine's present...I guess i forgot to give it to you...Sorry.." said Naruto as he handed her the box that held the necklace within it.

Hinata took the small box and opened it, her eyes widened, "Naruto-kun!...Y-you got it for me?..." she said amazed.

Naruto took Hinata by the hand and smiled, "Hey, Lets dance Hinata" said Naruto with his warm smile and lead a blushing Hinata to the dance floor. Once they got on the floor, Naruto gently walked closer to Hinata. He then took his hands and gently grabbed Hinata's arms and wrapped them around his neck. He then put his hands upon her hips... causing Hinata to blush even more.

"I'm glad Im here with you, Hinata." Naruto said face to face with Hinata.

Still blushing, Hinata looked up at Naruto and stared into his eyes deeply, "Im glad...Im here..too.. Naruto-kun.."

Naruto looked back into her eyes with the same warm smile as always...

Hinata looked back into his... not knowing her face was drawing closer to his..."Naruto-kun..."...she moved her head back in fear that Naruto didnt like her. "Naruto-kun..I..uh-.."

But before she could finish, Naruto connected his lips with hers... in a embracing kiss as they slow danced.

Naruto drew back head away from Hinata and smiled with a slight blush... Hinata blushed deeply and gave up her shyness in that moment as she embraced Naruto in a loving hug.

Everyone else sat around drinking punch and partying... telling jokes and smiling having a good time. All the jounins also had their share of fun. Kakashi read his book as the rest stood talking. Temari pulled on Shikamaru's arm in attempt to get him to dance. Yamato finally made it to the party after being gone for so long on a S rank mission. He sat at the table with Kakashi,

"Still reading that book I see.." said Yamato.

"Yeah, dancing's not my thing" said Kakashi

"I knew you'd say that... so I brought someone who wants to dance... and I know how you cant say no to a girl soo..." said Yamato as the ramen girl, in a beautiful dress walked to their table

"Come on Kakashi! Lets dance!" she said excited as she dragged Kakashi to the dance floor. Yamato laughed hard looked at the sight then picked up Kakashi's book and began reading.. getting into it rather quickly.

Rock lee and Gai made their way to the party as well. They walked over to the table with Yamato.

"Hey there Yamato. Life treatin ya good? Wheres Kakashi?" asked Gai

Yamato manged to lift up his head to reply, "Dancing..."

"Dancing!?" Gai looked over to the dance floor seeing Kakashi dancing, "I wont lose to you Kakashi! Ill beat you in dancing too!" he said with determination thinking it was another challenge. He walked over to Kurenai and grabbed her by the hand and lead her to the dance floor without asking her to dance and began dancing with her next to Kakashi and the ramen girl... all the while, staring at Kakashi with a Im-not-going-to-lose-to-you look in his face... leaving Kurenai to dance with an anime sweatdrop.

Gaara escorted Anko and they danced and drank punch together... She did her best to make him laugh and smile to win the bet but...no such luck.

Anko didnt win the bet this time, either.

Sasuke and Sakura finally sat down from dancing and drunk some punch together. Seeing this, Rock lee walked over to them and extended his hand to Sakura. "Hello Sakura-san. Sasuke-kun... Sakura-san..may I have this dance" said Lee with an honorable bow.

Sakura looked up at Lee and smiled, "Sure" she said sweetly and went off to dance with Lee after smiling back to Sasuke.

Ino, shortly afterwards, walked over to Sasuke, "Hey...Sasuke-kun...Wanna dance?"

Sasuke looked at Ino and smiled, "Sure." he said agreeing... making Ino blush and happy.

Hey everyone! How 'bout a picture!" said an ordinary jounin.

"Sure!" said Naruto as he and Hinata walked over to them.

"Come on, Neji, lets get in the picture" said Tenten

"Must we?.." Neji said not wanting to take it.

"Yeah, now on three, say Konoha! Ready? 1...2...3..."

"KONOHA!" everyone shouted as they jounin took the picture.

"Now let me get a picture with all the girls now" said the Jounin with the camera.. All the girls got together and took a picture

"Now let me get all the guys in one now" said the camera jounin... All the guys got together.

"Do I have to.."

"Yes Neji, now come on..." said Kiba. And the all guy picture was taken.

Walking over to Naruto shortly after, Tsunade placed a hand on his shoulder, "Aye... Naruto.."

Naruto turned and saw Tsunade wearing her red hokage hat. "Granny Tsunade?...why are you wearing the hokage hat?...I thought you only wear that when you're doing hokage business.."

Tsunade smiled and took her hand to take off the hat, "here is your suprise, Naruto" said Tsunade as she placed the Hokage hat upon Naruto's head.

Naruto's eyes widened, he was at a loss for words...She gave him the hokage hat...this could only mean one thing...

"Your making me Hokage!? YAY!!!" Naruto began bouncing around the room with joy. "Im hokage! im Hokage! Ill be the best Hokage there ever was!!!"

"Now wait just a second, Naruto. Its only for a week. I want to see how you act when seen as the leader of a village." said Tsunade. "After the week, Im back as Hokage"

"Hokage for a week?! Dattebayo! Alright! Ill be the best Hokage-for-a-week there ever was!!!!" exclaimed Naruto

Everyone cheered and clapped at Naruto's "promotion for a week" making Naruto happy for the first time he was living his dream and everyone was aknowledging him...

"YEAH!!!" shouted Naruto as he threw a fist triumphantly into the air.

* * *

And thats the last chapter of Tunnel of Destined Love. It was fun typing this story and sorry it took so long to finish. See, what had happened was I had all this mostly typed out on my lap top. The next day i go to finish it and post it up, the laptop wont turn on. Come to find out, the memory, of all things to be wrong with a laptop, was corrupted and so i had to redo this story. I was going to wait until we got it fixed but i figured if the memory was gone that the chapter was gone too. Anyways, Im greatful to all of you reviewers! You guys rock outloud! I am going to post a pic of the picture the jounin took at the last party. They can be found on my profile. Special thanks to the people who made the pics.

* * *

Once Again, credit to those who made them. And Also, Big thanks go out to my top reviewers! Mystical-Dreamer57, Riyuto-san, Danny-171984, Major Hinata Fan, RaikageAlex1, bm631, fallenforedward, RasenganFin, PandaShark, M Warrior, and jawmax. Thanks! 


	28. Spinoff Story! Hokage for a Week!

The spinoff of "**Tunnel of Destined Love**" named "**Hokage for a Week**!" is being made and the first chapter is up! Please Review and let me know what you guys think! Thanks.

-**SeanEddy**


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